On any given day — or night — folks head into Lake Elmo park's snowy playground. Popularity exceeds 2013.
By Libor Jany libor.jany@startribune.com
Amy Koltun looked out at the carefully preened ski trails of the Lake Elmo Park Reserve and wished that she was there.
A lunch date with her sister, who was just finishing up a cross-country ski trek, would keep her from strapping on her own skis and heading out into the chill on this brisk weekday afternoon.
But on most days, even those she calls "the worst, nastiest days," Koltun, a lifelong skier who first started skiing the reserve several years ago, will make the drive from her Stillwater home to this scenic and snowy playground for her "only form of exercise in the winter."
And she's not alone.
For much of the winter, the park reserve's 12.4 miles of ski trails — 5.4 of which are illuminated at night by LED lights — have been choked with outdoors enthusiasts looking for places to cross-country ski, hike, snowshoe and generally frolic as a way of warding off cabin fever.
County parks officials say the reserve has drawn 75,000 visitors in two months this year, compared with 63,000 skiers from January through March in 2013.