Skiing the Nansen Ski Club Trails at Milan Hill State Park
The forecast called for some wild weather “North of the Notches”. Since most of the snow down south has melted, my buddy and I set out northbound to the Nansen Ski Club xc trails in Milan, New Hampshire.
The Nansen Ski Club is the oldest ski club in the United States. So we were pretty excited to check out such a historic network of trails.
After a 2.5 hour ride we arrived at the Milan Hill State Park. It was snowing on and off the whole way. The trails had a couple fresh inches of snow on them making it idea for the skis.
| Date: | 03-14-2021 |
| Location: | Milan, NH |
| Distance: | 2.5 mi |
| Fee/Pass | $0 |
| Elevation Gain: | 196′ |
| Total Time: | 2 hr 38 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | moderate |
We were the first ones in the parking lot but one of the members of the Ski Club soon showed up to open the bathrooms. We chatted with him for a bit and he invited us in to see the newly reconstructed ski club hut.
When we entered it smelled like fresh wood and stain. The building is both rustic and comfortable. We were grateful for this special tour before we headed out.
When we got our skis on the snow started really coming down. The weather was really bi-polar. Blizzard one second and sunny and warm the next. All day long!
Our first stop on our trip was to climb up Milan Hill to the fire tower. This was the last NH forest service tower I needed to visit to complete the NH Fire Tower Quest.
From here we rode the perimeter of the trails. Mostly green and blue terrain. We were thankful for the fresh snow. It really made all the difference. While there was a good 3 foot base it was all very hard packed but the snow made it great for skis.
Along the way we got to check out some of the campsites, yurts, and shelters in the park. There is a lot to see here and I hope to be able to go back soon and ski the rest of the trails before the season ends.
