The New Year has begun, the busy holiday season is behind us, and it’s time to enjoy the rest of winter.
Winter in the Quetico-Superior offers much that you can’t find during summer paddling season: skiing and snowshoeing, dogsledding, top-notch northern lights, drinking coffee by a wood stove… It’s also much easier to find solitude than in any other season.
Collected here are some images and words to inspire you to go explore the millions of acres of woods and waters in northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario.
Voyageurs National Park Association: “Yay winter! Voyageurs National Park’s Sullivan Bay, Blind Ash Bay, Oberholtzer, and Rainy Lake Recreation snowshoe trails are now open. The Echo Bay Trail, Rainy Lake Recreation Ski Trail, and Tilson Connector Trail are all packed, tracked and ready for you. “While lake ice is definitely forming, it is not thick enough to stake trails or for recreation.”
Voyageurs National Park: “Skiing–and possibly falling–can be daunting. In Voyageurs we encourage everybody to face their fears, borrow a pair of free skis from the Rainy Lake Visitor Center (if you don’t have your own), and embrace this unique winter experience...Everybody falls at some point, and it’s reasonable to be nervous about it… If you’re still nervous, try falling a few times into the snow on level ground before setting off. Voyageurs is a great place to safely push your boundaries. The trails await…”
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness: “I clap my hands in infantine joy and amazement, before the first opening to me of this august magnificence, old with the love and homage of innumerable ages, young with the life of life” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ely Outfitting Co.: “Ely nordic ski trails are in prime condition. There’s an excellent base and the trees are coated in snow – it’s beautiful! This photo is at Hidden Valley Trails on the edge of Ely.”
Benjamin Olson: “It’s time… tomorrow I will begin scouting new areas for Canada Lynx. We just received a bunch of new snow over the past 48 hours, so any tracks I find will be fresh. Hopefully I see a cat, would be a great way to start the new year!”
Amy and Dave Freeman: “Happy New Year from the north woods of Minnesota! May your 2020 be filled with adventure.”
Superior Hiking Trail Association: “Where are you heading on the #SuperiorHikingTrail this weekend? The blizzard that hit the North Shore last weekend dumped a ton of snow on the Trail, especially on the southern end around Duluth. If you have them, we recommend packing along your snowshoes — chances are you’ll need them! You’ll also help to pack down and groom the Trail, making it more enjoyable for those who don’t own snow floatation devices.”
Gunflint Trail Association: “Happy cross country ski season! Did you know that the Gunflint Trail has over 211 kilometers of groomed trails? The Banadad, Central and Upper Gunflint ski systems await you…”
The Banadad Ski Trail – from historic logging road to winter wilderness experience