Winter Wonderland On Bretton Woods XC Trails
| Date: | 03-05-2023 |
| Location: | Bretton Woods, NH |
| Distance: | 6.8 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 342′ |
| Total Time: | 3 hr 38 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Green, Blue |
With over a foot of snow the day before, I was torn between downhill skiing or cross country skiing. I sure am glad I chose cross country. And I’m super glad I chose to make the drive up to Bretton Woods by the Mount Washington Hotel.
The morning started out very cool and grey. Bretton Woods is about 2 hours from my home and an early start was necessary. Especially since I had to be back in the afternoon. So I grabbed my gear and was out the door a little before 7am.
I’ve wanted to check out the Nordic trails at Bretton Woods for a while and after the large snow fall I wasn’t going to miss my chance for perfect conditions and they did not disappoint!
I got to the Nordic center just before 9am and went in to purchase a day trail pass. Price was $24 and that seemed pretty reasonable. I grabbed a map and the gentlemen told me that there was not a bad trail in the whole network. With pass in hand I grabbed my skis and headed out on the trails.
I had a route already planned and hopped that time would allow for me to finish it. I must have been one of the first people on the trails because they were still in pristine groomed condition.
I started out on the Perimeter trail which takes me right behind the Mount Washington Hotel and in to the back fields. As I was skiing along a flock of wild turkeys crossed my path a ways up. This was a real “Share the trail” moment.
As I moved along the trail entered the woods where everything was like a winter wonderland. Here the trail follows along the Ammonoosuc River. I stopped by some frozen pools a to take a pic but much of the river was covered with a few feet of snow.
Shortly after I made it to the Bridal Path trail junction. This trail is marked blue and had some climbing along it. There were also some frozen waterfalls along this trail to view. The first was Middle Falls. It is nestled in a rock/stone gorge and very pretty with the snow.
I kept skiing up the hill till I hit the B&M Trail. This was an easier green trail and was much flatter. This lead me to the Upper Falls and had a nice bridge for viewing the falls from.
From here I kept moving clockwise until I reached the B&M Shelter off the side. There were a few others taking a break here so I decided to do the same. I do like checking out the old shelters.
After a quick break I continued on through the woods. There were a lot of people out on the trails now and many of them much faster than I but I kept chugging along till I reached the Porcupine trail that lead me to the warming hut a ways away.
The warming hut is a nice small log cabin where skiers can warm up and grab a bite to eat. This was a great lunch spot. I did not stay long because I was on a schedule but did find time to take a few pictures.
From here the green section of the Porcupine Trail came to an end and I started to go down the steeper blue Sebosis trail. This was a fun trail. The pristine snow and great conditions made this a blast coming down. Snow was easy to turn and stop.
I was at the bottom of the Sebosis trail in no time. From here it was just about a mile back to the parking lot through some green trails. At this point my energy level was low so this last section did take a little longer than I expected. Temps were also warming up a bit and a little snow started to stick to my skis in the track. So I skied the last section on the groomed skate part of the trail till I made it back to the car.
This was hands down one of my favorite cross country skiing experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone else on the trail seemed to agree conditions could not get much better. I’d also like to note that all the skiers I talked to were so friendly and everyone had a smile on their face. Great day!!!
