Poplar Creek Trail
- 0.9 mi
- round trip
- 90 ft
- climb
- 956 ft
- high point
- Out and back
- route
- Apr–Oct
- best months
Caution today
Weather is marginal · OpenWeather · checked 9 h ago
Poplar Creek Trail is an easy cross-country ski route in Minnesota's Cleary Lake area, a regional agency-managed unit about 0.9 miles long. The trail is an out-and-back that starts and ends at nearly the same elevation, with a high point of 956 feet and a low of 939 feet. It covers about 1.8 miles of gentle terrain, and the steepest stretch comes at about 0.7 miles in, with a grade of about 3%. Winter is the natural season for this route. Typical averages from a nearby weather station in Farmington put January highs around 23°F with lows near 8°F, and February is similar at 28°F and 12°F. March warms to a typical average high of 41°F, while summer highs reach the low 80s. Several other routes sit close by. Lakeside Trail is 0.2 miles away and Ironwood Trail is 0.7 miles off, with Lower Ironwood Trail at about a mile. The Big Woods Regional Trail, a hike, lies roughly 4.9 miles away.
Best time to go · Apr–Oct
Best time to visit Poplar Creek Trail
Best months: April–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.
Jan
23° / 8°
6 wet
Feb
28° / 12°
5 wet
Mar
41° / 24°
7 wet
Apr
56° / 36°
8 wet
May
69° / 48°
11 wet
Jun
78° / 58°
11 wet
Jul
82° / 63°
10 wet
Aug
79° / 60°
9 wet
Sep
72° / 52°
8 wet
Oct
58° / 39°
7 wet
Nov
42° / 26°
6 wet
Dec
28° / 14°
6 wet
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Farmington 3 Nw, MN, 10.8 mi away at 980 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Keep exploring — more snow worth the drive
Photo: Baseball Bugs, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)Buck Hill
~9 min drive
SKI
Ironwood Trail
~1 min drive
1.20-mile out-and-back route in Minnesota with 94 ft of elevation gain.
SKI
Star Loop
~16 min drive
0.10-mile out-and-back out-and-back in Minnesota with 10 ft of elevation gain.
SKI
Oak Knob
~16 min drive
0.5-mile out-and-back route at Oak Knob in Minnesota with 85 feet of elevation gain.
SEE
Hyland Hills Ski Area
~18 min drive
Hyland Hills Ski Area in Minnesota has 7 lifts and 11 runs with 3 easy, 5 intermediate, and 3 advanced options.
SKI
Lower Ironwood Trail
~2 min drive
0.46-mile out-and-back trail in Minnesota with 35 ft of elevation gain.
SKI
Star Loop
~16 min drive
0.18-mile out-and-back ski out-and-back in Minnesota with 29 ft of elevation gain.
SKI
North Trail
~17 min drive
North Trail is a 1.27-mile out-and-back route in Minnesota with 166 feet of elevation gain.
SKI
Hill Trail
~15 min drive
0.71-mile out-and-back trail in Minnesota with 112 ft of elevation gain.
SKI
Long Ski Trail
~23 min drive
0.70-mile out-and-back ski trail in Minnesota with 80 ft of elevation gain.
Map and trail data © OpenStreetMap contributors
