Best Groomed: Find adventure on the beaten track at some of the finest cross-country ski areas in the Northeast

AMC Outdoors, December 2005

Here in our snowy, hilly homeland, groomed cross-country ski areas abound. And so do reasons to visit them: There’s challenge enough for all levels of adventure-seekers. Trails at these centers make learning to ski easy on kids and parents at a fraction of the cost of a downhill day pass. Advances in lighting and snowmaking enable skiers to be out at times when the backcountry is off-limits. Lodges offer a taste of apres-ski and steaming cups of cocoa by the fireside. From the training ground that’s spawned Olympians to the lantern-lit after-work trail system close to the city, there’s a cross-country area near you just waiting to be explored this winter. We asked some of our skiing writers and members where they like to go when they go groomed. Here’s a baker’s dozen of their favorites. 

Trails with Heart

Romance Mountain Blueberry Hill Cross-Country Center Goshen, Vermont Intermediate skiers looking for a remote-feeling backcountry adventure might just fall in love with Romance Mountain. It would be easy to spend the day drinking cocoa and eating homemade soup around the Nordic center’s crackling pot-bellied stove. But the gentle mountains visible through the center’s frosty windows beckon. There’s Romance Mountain tucked behind the Blueberry Hill Inn. Behind that, sparse forests climb over gentle slopes in all directions, the mountains folding into each other like pillows tossed on a bed. Robert Frost lived just north of here, and the wintry landscape outside the window was his muse for years.

From the center, cross the road, pass the inn, and wind around the base of Hogback Mountain, nearly hidden by the thick forests growing on its slopes, and the unnamed hills and knolls. Join the Halfdan Kuhnle Trail (ironically named for a die-hard, off-trail backcountry skier) and follow it along the brook to a farm gate. Here begins an exhilarating climb through a forest of birch, maple, pine, and spruce. Take a break halfway through this half-hour warmup and don’t forget to turn around for sweeping views of New York’s Taconic Ridge.

Romance Mountain tops out at 3,000 feet. Weary skiers find welcome rest on a wooden bench at the summit while they take in 360 degrees of roadless wilderness. Part of the Green Mountain National Forest, Romance Mountain and the surrounding land is protected from logging and development. The Long Trail skirts the area to the east. The Sucker Brook Trail takes you home. It’s a piece of the Catamount Trail, a 300-mile cross-country ski trail stretching the length of Vermont from Massachusetts to Canada.

The ski down is a long and gentle schuss through the forest with views of the Breadloaf Wilderness, the back side of Mount Abraham, and the Lake Champlain Basin—a blanket of white in the winter. Local’s Tip: The cheddar and the gossip are fresh at the Ripton General Store on your way to or from Blueberry Hill. Or buzz into Middlebury for gourmet wood-fired flatbread pizza at American Flatbread.

Trail System: 75 kilometers of trails on 22,000 acres of protected land. Touring Center: Rentals, lessons, café, retail.

Trail fees: $16 (adults); $9 (age 13-17 and seniors); under 12 free (pass includes soup).

Lodging: Blueberry Hill Inn (800-448-0707). For More: www.blueberryhillinn.com; 802-247-6735.

—Berne Broudy is a Vermont photographer, writer, and adventurer.

Action Jackson

Jackson Ski Touring Foundation Jackson, New Hampshire Jackson is a cross-country ski town. In winter, the tiny village, with its steeples, covered bridges, and colonial architecture is transformed into a cross-country skier’s Mecca. The comprehensive Jackson Ski Touring Foundation uses the village as its hub and trails extend high and low through some 150 kilometers of field, farm, and forest on the eastern slope of the Presidential Range. This town is so into the sport that fully a third of its population are members of the non-profit foundation.

Ski trails are everywhere, winding through town land, the White Mountain National Forest, and the acreage of scores of private landowners. For beginners looking for a quaint New England ski experience, the flats in the village are perfect. In no time, skiers can head over the Wentworth Hotel golf course and through a covered bridge. A tunnel takes you under Route 16 and soon into the gem of this network—the rolling Ellis River Trail. A heated cabin awaits on the bank of the chilly river. Warm up and rest here before continuing on the undulating trail that parallels the road.

With so many trails to choose from, each outing has a distinct flavor. The Wave, a two-kilometer path, is as its name suggests, a bit of a roller coaster. At the top of The Wave is the Betty Whitney Trail, named for a longtime AMC member and the town’s first lady of skiing who died last February at age 102. After climbing about two kilometers to the Whitneys Inn at the base of the Black Mountain Ski Area, you’ll find the views of the Whites she loved. Jackson is not without with its challenging trails either. The 12.4-kilometer Hall Trail provides quite a workout while the East Pasture Loop has a 35-degree banked turn. Experienced backcountry skiers can ride the gondola up nearby Wildcat Mountain and take the Wildcat Valley Trail down the backside of the mountain about 18 kilometers back to the village. Local’s Tip: Ski after dark with the light of the moon or headlamp. (There is no patrol, though.) Warm up with a pint and pizza at the festive Shannon Door or a burger and brew at the comfortable Wildcat Tavern.

Trail System: 154 kilometers of groomed trails.

Touring Center: Rentals, lessons, retail, accessible building.

Trail fees: $15 (adults); $12 weekends and holidays, $10 weekdays (seniors); $8 (age 10-15); Children under 10 free. Annual foundation membership $110.

Lodging: AMC’s Joe Dodge Lodge at nearby Pinkham Notch Visitor Center (603-466-2721 or www.outdoors.org/lodging).

For More: www.jacksonxc.org; 800-927-6697.

—New Hampshire-based writer Marty Basch is the author of several books, including Winter Trails Vermont and New Hampshire. Find him at www.martybasch.com.

Thrills, Not Frills

Northfield Mountain Cross-Country Ski Area Northfield, Mass. This friendly, no-frills touring center on the side of forested Northfield Mountain offers wide, exquisitely groomed trails, and is well worth the two-hour drive from Boston. One caveat: you will rarely find a touring center with less character. The lodge is a concrete cube of a room in a decidedly business-like building; the center is owned and operated by the Northeast Utilities power company.

A knot of flat trails on fields by the lodge gives skiers a choice: you can chug straight up the mountain or make a series of passes across it. Coming down is fun, no matter which route you choose. Even the steepest trails are wide and well-groomed with few abrupt turns. This cuts down exponentially on the fear factor. A strong set of legs and a love of hills will serve you well at Northfield. Since Northfield is built on a mountain, beginner terrain is generally confined to the lower region near the touring center, known as Fuller’s Pasture. The pretty, exposed Rattlebone glides gently over fields below the road and into the woods. The bump at the trailhead is a huge rock pile from the excavation of the reservoir at the top of the mountain; while trying to give it a smooth grade, the bulldozer operator claimed he could feel his bones rattle. Angel’s Roost is a pretty comma of a trail with rolling terrain that curves off Rattlebone through a tall pine forest.

For a satisfying elevation change, take the Reservoir Road to the top of the mountain. A road in summertime, this trail is the wide interstate of skiing at Northfield. The oh-so-gradual three-mile climb seems interminable without any of the imaginative dips and curves of a good ski trail, but arriving at the top is well worth it. The reservoir looks like a crater on the moon. From here there is nowhere to go but down. Sidewinder traverses the mountain through an open hillside forest; through the trees you can see out into the blue hills beyond for some of the best views at Northfield. The trail dips into Told-Ya-So Pass and down into the evergreens, where the grades get steeper and the corners more thrilling.

Expert skiers are going to have fun. The 10th Mountain descends from a hardwood ramble over Bugaboo Pass, down the full height of the mountain, and over exciting terrain. One section resembles a runaway truck ramp: just let your skis go. The fast and curvy Ecstasy Ramble feels like a waterslide with good speed and smooth turns—a great trail for venturesome intermediates. Local’s Tip: Eat breakfast and find good homemade food, dirt cheap prices, and lively banter at the Shady Glen Restaurant in Turners Falls, 10 miles away.

Trail System: 40 kilometers of groomed trails.

Touring Center: Rentals, lessons, vending machines, retail.

Trail fees: $12/day (adults); $9 (seniors); $5 (age 9-14). No credit cards accepted.

Lodging: Brandt House, Greenfield (800-235-3329); Deerfield Inn, Deerfield (413-774-5587).

For More: www.nu.com/northfield/ccski.asp; 800-859-2960.

—Chris Leggett and Woden Teachout are authors of Tracks and Trails, published by Dawbert Press.