New Hampshire - Cross Country Skiing

New Hampshire Cross Country Skiing

You just need to provide the desire, comfortable clothing, and perhaps a snack. New Hampshire cross country skiing venues will provide the snow. Lots of snow. Commercial cross country ski areas offer ski rentals and lessons. At these areas you’ll find groomed trails, many wide enough for skating. Many New Hampshire state parks are open in the winter. Expect to find ungroomed trails in the parks. Wherever you ski there will be forest and meadows, mountains and streams. There is no better way to enjoy winter outdoors.

Cardigan State Park
Off Route 118
Orange, NH
Phone: 603-547-3373

This park sits on the western slope of Mount Cardigan, offering sweeping scenery. A scenic road leads to the picnic area. Trails offer visitors hiking in warmer weather, and cross-country skiing in the winter.

Mount Sunapee State Park
Off Route 103
Newbury, NH  03255  
Phone: 603-763-5561

The 4,085-acre lake at the park is ideal for family and group outings and for fishing, boating, swimming, and picnicking. The beach has a store, a playground, and a bathhouse. Rentals of canoes and kayaks. A boat launch is available. Open weekends only starting in late May, then daily from late June through early September; then weekends only until late September 24. Call or check Web site for exact opening and closing dates. Admission fee.

Pillsbury State Park
Route 31
Washington, NH
Phone: 603-863-2860

This wooded park offers canoeing on May Pond, fishing areas in both the pond and nearby streams, hiking trails into nearby mountains, and a picnic area. Wintertime activities available include snowmobile trails and cross-country skiing. There is a public campsite available. Pets are allowed.

Gunstock Cross Country and Snowshoe Center
Route 11A
Gilford, NH  03429  
Phone: 603-293-4341

Amenities/Attractions: Cross country skiing and snowshoeing, on over 50 km of trails, through dense woods with stone walls and brooks, as well as scenic overlooks. Nearby alpine ski area has snow tubing park.

Bear Brook State Park
Off Route 28
Allenstown, NH  03275  
Phone: 603-485-9874

This park is set on 9,600 acres, amid lakes, hills and forest. Visitors will find hiking trails, play areas, archery ranges, a nature center, and museums dedicated to camping, snowmobiling and the Civilian Conservation Corps. There are hunting areas, fishing in streams and ponds, mountain biking trails, nature programs, boating, a beach and canoeing. Wintertime offers cross-country ski trails, snowmobile trails, and dog-sledding. A public campsite is available.

Pawtuckaway State Park
128 Mountain Road
Nottingham, NH  03290  
Phone: 603-895-3031

This park features a beach, changing facilities, swimming, boating, canoeing, hiking trails, fishing, mountain biking, and a picnic area. In the winter, snowmobile and cross-country ski trails are open. A public campground is also available.

Fox State Forest
309 Center Road
Hillsborough, NH
Phone: 603-464-3453

This forest features over 20 miles of trails for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

Granite Gorge
Route 9
Roxbury, NH  03431  
Phone: 603-358-5000

Located near Keene there are 12 km of trails.

Greenfield State Park
Route 136
Greenfield, NH  03047  
Phone: 603-547-3497

A 401 acre park on Otter Lake offering a beach, swimming, picnic areas, canoeing, fishing, and hiking trails. Wintertime activities include cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. A public campground is available.

Monadnock State Park
Route 124
Jaffrey, NH  03452  
Phone: 603-532-8862

Home to Mount Monadnock, which rises over 3100 feet, this park is among the most popular in New England with hikers and mountain climbers. There are over 40 miles of trails and a spectacular view of New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts at the mountain's summit. Visitors will also enjoy the winter-time cross-country ski trails, and a public camping area is available all year long. The park also has a store.

Wapack National Wildlife Refuge
Route 101
Peterborough, NH

This preserve offers ample opportunity for wildlife observation, particularly of migrating hawks. Hiking trails lead past forested land, a bog, a swamp and a rock cliff. These trails are available in the winter for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing as well. Camping and open fires are not permitted.

Windblown Cross Country
1180 Turnpike Road (Rte. 124/123)
New Ipswich, NH  03071  
Phone: 603-878-2869

You'll find 40 km of exciting trails with fantastic views. Snowshoe trails have been expanded.

Woodbound Inn Cross Country
62 Woodbound Road
Rindge, NH  03461  
Phone: 603-532-8341

Enjoy twenty kilometers of beautiful ski trails, lighted skating pond and sledding hill. Breathtaking views of Mount Monadnock.

Odiorne Point State Park
Route 1A
Rye, NH
Phone: 603-436-7406

The site of the first European settlement in New Hampshire, founded in 1623. During World War II, it was home to Fort Dearborn, a U.S. Army Base. Today, the park offers a look back at the history and a view of the area's nature through panels set throughout the park. In addition, visitors will enjoy canoeing, walking trails, a bike path and picnic areas. In the winter, cross-country ski trails are available. The park is also home to the Seacoast Science Center, which holds events throughout the year.

Bear Notch Ski Touring Center
Route 302
Bartlett, NH  03812  
Phone: 603-374-2277

Amenities/Attractions: Cross country skiing and snowshoeing over 70 km of groomed trails and backcountry. Trails traverse pristine waterfalls, riverside views, picturesque open meadows and trailside picnic tables.

Bretton Woods Cross Country
Route 302
Bretton Woods, NH  03575  
Phone: 603-278-3320

100 km of groomed classic and skate trails plus snowshoeing and even biathalon.

Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway & Ski Area
Franconia Notch State Park
I-93 to Exit 34B & 34C
Franconia, NH  03580  
Phone: 603-823-8800
Fax: 603-823-8088
Email: info@cannonmt.com

Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch State Park offers the best value and the most exciting skiing and riding on New Hampshire's greatest vertical drop. The more gentle side Cannon offers the Brookside Family area with 11 beginner and intermediate trails serviced by four lifts. Cannon has 60 trails, nine lifts, including New Hampshire's only 70-passenger aerial tram, a brand new cafeteria and deck, glades, children's programs and day care, lessons, rentals (including high performance skis) and a whole mountain of very nice people whose families have skied Cannon Mountain for generations.

Coleman State Park
Route 26
Stewartstown, NH
Phone: 603-538-6965

This park on Little Diamond Pond offers great trout fishing, hunting, picnic areas, and hiking trails. In the winter, trails are available for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. There is a campsite open to the public.

Connecticut Lakes State Forest
Pittsburg, NH
Phone: 603-538-6965

Visitors will enjoy fishing, canoeing, and hiking trails. In the winter, there are cross-country ski trails available. A public campsite is also available.

Eastman Cross Country Center
Grantham, NH  03753
Phone: 603-863-4500

Cross country skiing and snowshoeing on 36 km of groomed trails and 6 km backcountry.

Franconia Notch State Park
Route 93
Franconia, NH  03580  
Phone: 603-823-8800

Perhaps the most interesting of New Hampshire's state parks, Franconia Notch offers some incredible natural experiences. Visitors can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, mountain climbing up Cannon Mountain and Mount Liberty, fishing, canoeing, boating, and picnicking. Winter activities offered include cross-country ski trails, alpine skiing and snowmobile trails. Trails include a portion of the Appalachian Trail, and lead to spectacular sites. Historic site of The Old Man of the Mountain, a natural phenomenon created by a series of granite ledges jutting from a cliff face 1,200 feet in the air, which collapsed in 2003. The Flume is a 800 foot gorge with high granite walls, which support a variety of mountain flora in the warmer months. The Basin is a glacial pothole over 20 feet wide, formed at the base of a waterfall by the onslaught of the rushing water. Sightseers will enjoy a ride on the park's Aerial Tramway to the top of Cannon Mountain, where the view is spectacular. A public campground is also available.

Jackson Ski Touring Foundation
153 Main Street
Jackson, NH  03846  

Cross country skiing and snowshoeing on the most extensive and oldest (since 1888) trail system in the Eastern U.S. 93 km groomed and 61 km backcountry trails. Magnificent vistas of the Presidential Range, wide-open fields, and the Ellis River.

King Pine Ski Area @ Purity Spring Resort
Route 153
East Madison, NH  03849  
Phone: 603-367-8896
Toll-Free: 800-FREE-SKI
Email: info@kingpine.com

Voted "#1 Family Ski Resort in the White Mountains" by Boston-based RideTheLift.com's 2007 skier survey,

King Pine & Purity Spring Resort continue to lead the way for families and winter sport enthusiasts alike. Explore 22km of tracked and skate-groomed trails that wind through forests and twist through tall pines surrounding Purity Lake and the adjacent Audubon Sanctuary. DID YOU KNOW? A nordic ticket is FREE with the purchase of a King Pine Alpine ticket (rentals available, but not included).

Additional amenities at King Pine and Purity Spring Resort include night skiing, snowtubing, snowshoeing, ice skating, and an indoor pool/fitness center. To learn more about what the Purity Spring Resort area has to offer, visit www.kingpine.com or call (603) 367-8896 for snow reports, or (800) 373-3754 for lodging info.

Lake Francis State Park
Pittsburg, NH
Phone: 603-538-6965

This 2,000-acre state park offers canoeing, fishing areas, hiking and cross-country ski trails. There is a campground open to the public. Open early May to mid-December.

Loon Mountain Cross Country
60 Mountain Road
Lincoln, NH  03251  
Phone: 603-745-8111 x5562

Amenities/Attractions: Cross country skiing and snowshoeing, telemark, and ice skating. Trails are pristine, uncrowded, and meticulously groomed and tracked. Total of 35 km trails and 10 km backcountry.

Milan Hill State Park
Off Route 16
Milan, NH
Phone: 603-823-5563

Small park features views of the Presidential Mountains, a picnic area, trails to a fire tower, which are also available for cross-country skiing in the winter. A small tent camp area is open to the public. Pets are allowed.

Moose Brook State Park
Off U.S. Route 2
Gorham, NH
Phone: 603-466-3860

Popular with fisherman because of its numerous ponds and streams, this park also offers hiking trails, mountain climbing in the Crescent Mountain range, mountain bike trails and lake swimming. Cross-country ski trails are open in the winter. There is a public campsite available.

Mount Washington Resort
Route 302
Bretton Woods, NH  03575  
Phone: 603-278-1000
Toll-Free: 800-314-1752
Email: resortinfo@mountwashingtonresort.com

No matter how far you are from your childhood, it’s still waiting for you here.

Rediscover the wonder of the White Mountains with those you love most at the majestic Mount Washington Resort. Rated one of the “Top 10 Resorts Your Kids Will Love” by SKI Magazine, Mount Washington Resort offers the most ski and snowboard terrain in New Hampshire plus one of the most extensive cross country ski networks in New England. Mountain biking, fishing and guided nature hikes make summers unforgettable. And charming meals and accommodations at The Mount Washington Hotel, the Bretton Arms Inn, the Lodge or spacious condos are available year round. Take your kids back to a time when you worried less and played more at Mount Washington Resort.

Mt. Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe Center
Routes 16 & 302
Intervale, NH  03845  
Phone: 603-356-9920

Cross country skiing and snowshoeing 65 km of groomed and 5 km backcountry trails. Trails connect the towns of Intervale, Kearsarge and North Conway offering views of the Saco River and Mt. Washington.

Nansen Wayside Park
Route 16
Milan, NH
Phone: 603-323-2087

On the banks of the Androscoggin River, this park offers picnic area, fishing areas, boating and canoeing. The winter centerpiece is the 170 foot Nansen Ski Jump.

Nash Stream
Off Route 110
Odell, NH
Phone: 603-788-4157

More than just one stream, this is actually 40,000 acres of undeveloped land. It's available for public use for hiking, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing. Camping is not permitted.

New England Ski Museum
Exit 34B, I-93/Franconia Notch Parkway
Franconia, NH  03580  
Phone: 603-823-7177

Open: Memorial Day -March 31, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Exhibits feature antique ski equipment and vintage ski films. There is a museum shop. Admission is free.

Nordic Center at Waterville Valley
Town Square
Waterville Valley, NH  03215  
Phone: 603-236-4666

Ski or snowshoe 73 km of trails in the heart of the White Mountain National Forest and over 35 km in the backcountry.

The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel
1000 Cold Spring Road (Route 26)
Dixville Notch, NH  03576  
Toll-Free: 866-714-9795
Fax: 603-255-4221
Email: info@thebalsams.com
   

Regarded as “one of the top cross-country ski resorts in North America” by Snow Country Magazine, the BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel offers 95 kilometers of cross-country ski trails, 85 of which are tracked and groomed. With only a few exceptions, the trails are groomed fourteen feet wide with two diagonal lanes and a wide skate lane down the middle, so there’s plenty of room for all skill levels. Ski loops of varying length and difficulty have been developed within the cross-country trail system, and a state-of-the-art topographical Trail Map and Guide displays the entire system. Certified professional instruction is also available for beginners. Contact us today to learn about our ski packages, which include unlimited skiing, accommodations, dining and more.