Early Snowfall Sparks Winter Fun In Stearns County Parks

UNDATED (WJON News) -- For snow enthusiasts, the early start to winter is exciting.

Stearns County Parks Director Ben Anderson says crews are out putting down ski trails at Warner, Kraemer, Mississippi, and Quarry Parks.

The classic tracks should all be set by the end of the day on Thursday.

He says all four of those parks also offer trails for activities besides skiing.

We offer multi-use trails at those parks as well for hiking, dog walking, fat tire biking, and skijoring.  We want to keep people off the ski trails, because they do damage them if they are doing activities other than skiing on them, so look for the trails specifically marked as multi-use.

Anderson says, while we have had early snows that have melted before, this season is one of the earliest that he can remember where we've gotten snow that is expected to stick around for a while. He expects the county parks will be a lot busier this winter if the snow sticks around.

We definitely see an increase in use when we can get our ski trails groomed and when we have snow on the ground.  If it's just cold and brown, we don't see as many users out there.  When we see snow we're excited.

Anderson says there is no fee or pass required at Mississippi or Warner Lake parks, Quarry Park requires an annual or daily parking pass, and Kraemer Lake-Wildwood Park requires a Grant-in-Aid ski trail pass to use the trail. Quarry Park features four miles of lighted trails.

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Coming up on January 9th is their annual Moonlight Ski at Quarry Park from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Stearns County Parks are open from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. daily.