So far, it’s another winter with little to no snow cover.
The Wright County Parks Department is making the best of it by pivoting from cross-country skiing and snowshoeing to hiking.
Brad Harrington with the parks department says a new trail lighting system in place on the pond trail at Ney County Park near Maple Lake is a benefit for night hiking as well as skiing…
“…We got everything in place this fall, we have lights around the pond loop, that’s a 1.3 mile trail that now has lights on it. The hope was for skiing, but it’s also great here in the winter months for hiking. They’ve got a photo-eye and a sensor so they come on when it’s dark enough, around 4:30. Then they stay on until 10 o’clock so you can walk that pond loop without a headlamp.”
He says so far the response to the lighted trail has been very positive…
“A lot of people are enjoying the fact that we have them out there, especially when in the winter it gets dark so early. Having that as an option has been great…so the feedback has been really good. We’re excited to get some snow on it maybe at some point where we see how it goes with skiing, but I think all in all the feedback has been really good with that project.”
More information on all the programs from the Wright County Parks Department is available via the Wright County website, or by calling; (763) 682-3900.
