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Information for Cross-Country Skiers

Dane County and the City of Madison Parks have a joint Ski Trail Permit that allows patrons to ski at all City or County designated ski areas. Permits are available online.

Trail Conditions

Skiers can get up-to-date trail information here, or by calling the 24/7 Trails Information Line at 608-242-4576. Additional trail condition information, in and around Madison, can be found at the following links:

Cross-Country Ski Trail Maps


Additional Information

Dane County Parks provides groomed ski trails from the first of December through March. Grooming begins when there is at least four inches of snow and consistent freezing temperature, which is not always the first snowfall of the year. This allows for a good trail base to form and allows trails to remain frozen after grooming. When conditions are favorable (4" or more of snow), trails will be groomed once a week. The most popular trails will be groomed near the end of the week to provide the best skiing conditions on the weekend.

Dane County Parks utilitzes two machines to provide ideal skiing conditions throughout the season. An ASV Scout, SC50, tracked utility vehicle pulling a modified Tidd-Tech groomer with track setter is the main piece of trail grooming equipment. The secondary machine is a super wide track, Rotax V800, Ski-Doo Skandic snowmobile pulling a modified Tidd-Tech groomer with track setter.