Flat Iron Trail, lower Spruce Goose and Zealand Road
| Date: | 12-08-2023 |
| Location: | Twin Mountain, NH |
| Distance: | 3.64 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 266′ |
| Total Time: | 2 hr 48 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Green, Blue |
I had the day to myself so I decided to take my Fisher S-bounds out and head up north. I’ve been wanting to do the trails off Zealand Road.
I’ve wanted to ski the Flat Iron Trail off of Zeeland Road or sometime now. It looks like an easier trail for a beginner skier like myself. As I headed up north, I noticed more snow on the ground which was very exciting.
Parking is located about a quarter mile past Zealand Road. It’s a large multipurpose parking lot. It is popular with snowmobilers as well.
After parked I got my boots and gloves on and my pack ready, I grabbed my skis and crossed the road. I put my skis on and started along the trail by the road.
After about a quarter mile I got to Zealand Road and crossed over the bridge. It was a small climb up to the Flat Iron trailhead.
The trail was pretty much untouched, perhaps one snowshoer earlier in the day or day before. Aside from him, and a number of small critters I was the first to break a track for the skis.
The trail is a one-way, and the split is shortly after the start. I followed the directions and turned left. This took me out into a large field with great views of the Sugarloafs. I continued on until the trail took a right and starts to follow a stream.
I traveled along the stream for a while. There were lots of conifers, and all the trees had snow on them. Very pretty. However, the snow on the trail was a bit thin underneath all the evergreens. Fortunately, it was still skiable though. Caution had to be taken on some down hills to not hit rocks or roots that might be popping through.
After a while I came upon another opening with some great views, and soon after that there was a small bridge, and the trail started to climb up a ridge. This must be the Flatiron section of the trail.
At this point, the trail got a little steeper, and I had to herringbone up the trail. This is a thin ridge with steep drops on both sides. It was a very cool trail to follow on the skis.
After a bit more climbing, I finally reached the Highpoint of the trail. There was a bench and a look out with views of Hale and the Sugarloafs.
After that there’s a long gradual downhill that was fun to ride. Shortly after that there was another bench and look out area. A bit more gliding, stopping and more gliding I made it back to the loop and soon back on Zealand Road.
About 20 feet past the Flatiron trailhead was the trailhead for Spruce goose. This trail goes all the way up to the Zealand trail. Which means it was a little over 3 miles out. I was just planning on doing the lower section to the campground.
This trail is much more technical than the one I was on previously. I’m glad I was climbing up and not skiing down. The trail started out with some small ups and downs. It was kind of fun actually. About half way through It started to climb a little bit more.
There were also a couple of steep glides down and steep herring bones back up, but for the most part not too bad, and the trail was fully covered.
Toward the end of the trail as I near the campground, there was a small area that was steep and eroded so I decided to take my skis off and walk down this.
The trail was still a little thin and sketchy with some logs covered with snow. So I continue to hike with my skis off. From here, the trail started to ascend pretty steeply, so I knew I would not be putting my skis on for this part either. At the top of the steep section, I arrived at the campground and the end of this section of the trail.
The roads to the campground had not been touched and were pristine for skiing on. This was by far the best section of the day. I wish I had time to ski the rest of the campgrounds that would’ve been fun.
When I got back to Zeeland Road it is mostly downhill from here. The first hundred yards or so was pretty flat and then things started to dip down. There were lots of tracks, both ski and hikers. And the snow was still pretty fluffy with a nice crust layer at the bottom.
My strides turned in to glides and I soon found my self snowplowing a bit as I picked up a little speed. At one point, I hit a rock underneath the snow that stopped my skis dead in my tracks and threw me to the ground. Just a scrape knee fortunately.
After that, I kept a nice mellow snowplow down the rest of the road. The last little dip down towards the bridge was pretty fun as well. From here just a quick mile back to the car.
Flat iron Trail was a lot of fun these actually both trails were a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to this area getting some more snow and I think it’ll be a real good time. Perfect for a beginner like me.
