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Top 5 Winter Vacation Activities in Cuyuna Lakes Area


Maybe you’re hoping to hit the fat bike trails. Or maybe you’re simply hoping to relax in a quaint trailside cabin at the lake and enjoy the occasional campfire. Regardless, a Cuyuna winter vacation is all about doing your ideal activities, and having fun enjoying nature.


With an average annual snowfall of 40 inches, there's plenty of powder to explore. The options include 30 miles of groomed Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails, and access to a network of snowmobile trails. So whether you want a quiet weekend in the woods or thrilling black-diamond fat biking, come explore everything winter in Cuyuna, MN has to offer.


Here’s the top 5 winter activities we enjoy:


1. Fat Tire Biking

Biking fun is on another level when you’re fat biking trails on the Cuyuna trails. The more than 25 miles of flowing trails are groomed and offers trails for beginner, intermediate and expert riders. No bike? No problem. Cuyuna offers fat bike rentals. Here's rental information at this link and here’s a link to trail maps.


2. Cross-Country Skiing

If the quiet glide of cross-country skiing is your idea of winter fun, Cuyuna, MN has you covered with more than 30 miles of trails nearby. This article provides an overview of these favorite trails:

· Larson Lake Trail - 11.0 km double trackset

· Wolf Lake Trail - 10 k of single track

· Nordic Ridge Trail - (22 kilometers)

· French Rapids Trail - 16.0 k trackset


3. Snowshoeing & Winter Hiking

Hiking continues when winter starts. Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area provides a gorgeous setting for snowshoeing. Strap a pair on and head into the woods or up to snowy Miners Mountain. Red Raven, Crosby offers snowshoe rentals and here’s a link to the trail map.


4. Snowmobiling

Snowmobiling is taken seriously in Minnesota. With more than 22,000 miles of groomed trails, you can pretty much ride uninterrupted from one end of the state to the other and all sorts of places in between. Cuyuna offers great access points to the vast network of Minnesota snowmobile trails. Here’s some helpful links to hit the snowmobile trails:

· Area snowmobile maps here

· Info for snowmobile beginners here

· Snowmobile rental information here


5. Skiing, Snowboarding & Tubing

Family-favorite Mount Ski Gull, which is a scenic 30-mile drive from Cuyuna, offers downhill skiing and snowboarding. Ski Gull has 12 runs (40% beginner, 30% intermediate, 30% expert), a terrain park, bunny hill, offers lessons, ski and snowboard rentals and snow tubing.


Mount Ski Gull 9898 County 77 SW Nisswa, MN 56468 218-963-4353 mountskigull.com


Trail Connected Lodging

True North Basecamp offers six warm lakeview, trail-connected cabins with high speed WiFi with access to showers and bathrooms with heated floors. Each cabin include a fire ring with cooking grate. Takeout and delivery food is available in nearby Crosby. Prices start at $89 per night. Book here.

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