Presidents Day a Jackson XC Center

Presidents Day weekend and the sun is shinning. It was a cold but beautiful sunny Sunday, so I decided I needed to take advantage of the cross country ski snow while it was still around.

I headed out the door about 6:30 AM for the 2 1/2 our ride up to Jackson New Hampshire. I decided to try a new route that seemed to take about 15 minutes off my time and it was a much nicer drive crossing the lakes region.

About five minutes away from my destination I got a text from my friend Mandy Jo who said she would be joining me and was just about there as well.

We both arrived to the Jackson cross country ski Center about the same time. We got our tickets and Mandy got her rentals and geared up for our adventure.

This was Mandy‘s first time on cross country skiing so we had a pretty easy route planned that would take us out to the Cocoa cabin.

We started out on the fields in Jackson Center, went over to one of the practice hills to practice some stopping and turning, and also learning how to get up when you fall.

From here we made our way Over to the Jackson cross country ski covered bridge, which is always fun to cross. Took a few photos and then we continued on under the tunnel on route 16.

We followed the trail along the Glenn Ellis River with a few side excursions. The trail was an excellent condition for both classic and skate skiing. It had some nice rolling hills where we could practice, climbing and gliding.

 A little further up, we came to a split and decided to take a trail, called the “The Storybook Trail“ this trail had the story call the “Snow Day“ in some cases open to a different page, so as you skied, you could follow the story as well. This was fun to ski along and read it.

Soon after, we made it to the Cocoa cabin. There was a nice fire burning there when we skied in. There were a few other people there checking out the cabin as well.

We went over and got ourselves a couple of hot chocolates. Note: remember to bring cash next time. It takes a long time to use a credit card.

By this time, it was busy out on the trails with lots of people skiing around and enjoying the fire.

After we finished our hot chocolate, we checked out the cabin and put our then put our skis back on and headed back out to continue our loop.

We continued up the trail to the end of our loop, and then started to make our way back down. This area continues for quite a way and I’d like to explore it sometime.

On our way back we stopped at the cabin real quick, but by this time there was no more hot chocolate and the fire was surrounded by a bunch of people.

We continued back down the trail. Many of the slow gradual uphills on our way out were nice steady glides now. Still lots and lots of people on the trail. Everyone seem to be in a good mood and was enjoying a nice sunny day.

We made our way back to the end of the trail where we had to take our skis off and cross the road. Ski through the fields under the tunnel and through the covered bridge one more time.

We discussed going up to Carter Notch and skiing a little bit up there, but Mandy was feeling a bit tired, and we decided to end the day on a high note. She did so well for her first time I forgot she was a beginner.

We took a few pictures over by the covered bridge again. Then we skied around the field back over to the car then decided to just take a drive up to Carter Notch to show her where the other trails were.

Jackson cross country ski Center is a great place to learn how to ski. They offer snowmaking so there are usually pretty good conditions, and they also take really good care of their trails. They have lots of options from beginner to expert trails and there is something for everyone.