The Trip Report Hit List (Nordic)

Got an email from a forum member asking for a separate forum for nordic skiing.  That's a little weird for me as skiing is skiing.

I thought I'd a least publish at TR hit list. If/when we can get 10 TRs, I'll consider putting them into a separate forum.

Mountains with checks (√) have been covered:

Art Roscoe Trail System
Black River (BREIA)
Byrncliff Ski Trails
Cascade Ski Area
Crandall Park
Dewey Mountain
Fahnestock Winter Park
√ Gage Brook XC Trails
Garnet Hill
Greek Peak Nordic Center
√Hammond Hill
Lapland Lake
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Mohonk Preserve
√Mount van Hoevenberg
Mountain Trails
Oak Hill Farms
Osceola Tug Hill
Pine Ridge
Saratoga Biathlon Club
Tupper Lake XC
Winona Forest Association

More detail on Gage Brook XC ski trails owned by the Village of Lake George.  Less than a mile off Northway Exit 21.

Beautiful scenery, dog friendly, snowshoeing allowed and at the northern terminus you will find a tote road leading to the summit of Prospect Mtn., which is skiable except for a small steep pitch in a ravine.

Also a great tubing hill on the other side of the football field.

Gage Brook XC Trails

Here's the location:  
Location

Oh, I forgot, I did a TR on this forum in 2011.  

I'll put up a a Greek Peak Nordic Center TR at some point and maybe snowmonkey and some of the cycle-cny folks will give me a tour of hammond hill etc.

Calling Peter...

Time to expand the nordic directory?  Maybe we've got some volunteers...

Hammond Hill, Gage Brook and Greek Peak Nordic added to the list above.

There may actually be a Hammond Hill in here somewhere...

Thanks to MichealTokyo for his contributions to the Nordic Directory:

Lake George XC Ski Trails

Saratoga Spa State Park Ski Trails

When I have time, I will get expanded reports for each of these;

Feb 2015
I took a little vacation and went to several XC ski centers. Everybody has the same amount of snow (2.5-3'
on the ground).

Lapland Lake, NY- Immaculate trails, new owners which seem to get the whole "XC perfection" idea.
 Trails run around 10' wide.Lodge, rentals, and small restaurant.

Strafford, Central Vt.- Fairly new place, been around 4-5 years. Based on several farms, normally run by a
father and son. Some very challenging "dark blue" outer trails. Has some faults (levelness, compacting, COLD
port-a-poti). Quite small warming lodge.

Craftsbury,Northern Vt.- Probably the best the East coast has to offer. If you stay on site, meals are
included and quite good (rather on the granola-eee healthy side!). If you don't stay on site there is
nothing else for miles and miles! I was impressed by the equipment barn which has baby, momma, and daddy
PistenBullys.  But 3 PistenBullys are note enough- the really big one was around the corner (too big to fit
in the barn with its 20' wide front scrubber and 4 track setters on back).Do I need to say the grooming was
excellent?

Trapp Family Lodge, Northern Vt.- Very nice family place (I didn't stay at the lodge). It is a right of
passage to climb and climb up to "The Hut" and have lunch (soup, chili), and record your name and comments
in the log book. Way fun trip down. Excellent grooming.

Viking Nordic (Central Vt)- Small area run by an extremely knowledgeable and pleasant fellow. Most trails
(that I was on) are about 6' wide, the harder sections are wider if the terrain allows. Nice lodge with some
hot foods and warming hut. Grooming is well done.

Saratoga Springs State Park, NY- I stopped here to break up my drive home. What I had read said it was
groomed. I saw no evidence of that and had a hard time telling where the official trails shown on the map
might be. Much foot and snowshoe traffic- but mostly in 3 separate places! Trails were around edge of big
open windy area. They have a very nice warming with with a nice circular fireplace in the center. Even with
nobody there, there was a nice fire going and heated restrooms/changing areas. Too bad the snow and tracks
were hard and awful.