Skiing around Beaver Brook Association – Hollis NH
| Date: | 2-17-2025 |
| Location: | Hollis, NH |
| Distance: | 2.15 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 77′ |
| Total Time: | 2 hr 9 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
We had another good-sized snowstorm so that meant another full morning of snow blowing and shoveling. But after that, I took my Fisher S-Bound skis out.
With all the fresh snow I did not feel the need to go somewhere far where the trails were groomed. I wanted to play in the fresh snow so I headed out to Beaver Brook Association in Hollis, NH.
I had never been to this network of trails and was surprised it had over 35 miles to explore. When I arrived, the parking lot had already been plowed. There was enough room for 10 cars.
The sun was out and the winds were starting to get real gusty. When I opened my door, a gust blew my hat off and over the large snowbank. I was able to recover it once I got my skis on.
I started out on the Wildlife Pond Trail. Some snowshoers had gone out before me and broke the trail. That was nice because there was a thin layer of ice under about 4” of snow.
This section of trail is mostly flat but there was one area I had to sidestep down a bit and another section that was to steep to climb so I had to take the skis off. When I got to the junction where you cross the pond I could feel the winds blowing off the open ice.
After crossing the pond, the snowshoe tracks turned left and I decided to continue straight on the Old City trail. This is where I stared to make my own track on the new snow.
I came upon a information sign covered in snow. I cleared it off and it talked about a cellar hole behind it. I was interesting to learn that this was one of Hollis earliest settlements. This is the only surviving cellar hole from what was first called “The City” and then the “Old City” and even later in time “The Lost City”. It was kind of cool to find the “Lost City” in New Hampshire. I didn’t even know we had one.
From here I skied on. Another skier did go by while I was taking some pictures. I turned right on the Hatfield Trail West. This junction was not marked and I went past it a little ways.
This trail meanders a bit but is all very flat and easy going. I made my way to the Wildlife Pond Overlook and then started back on the Pond Loop trail which goes around the pond. I’ll have to come back another day and do that whole trail around the pond. On the way back I skied over a bridge and then ended up at the junction where I crossed the pond.
From here I took the Dam Road around the back side of the pond. There was a small hill I had to climb out but was able to do it on the skis with a little herringboning up. It was not long until I was back at the car.
When I got back the winds had stared to calm down. This was not a long trip but it was nice to explore some local trails on the skis with good snow. Looking forward to coming back and exploring more.
