Assuming Boston gets the usual southern storms that it has the last couple of years, I was hoping to find a few spots that I go to after work with a head lamp, hike up and get a few turns, Is there anything worth the effort within 45min of Boston?
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Best spot around boston to earn your turns after work?
- Thread starter loki357
- Start date
Puck it
Well-known member
Prospect Hill in Waltham.
Horn Pond Mtn. In Woburn
Boston Hill in Nirth andover.
Horn Pond Mtn. In Woburn
Boston Hill in Nirth andover.
skiNEwhere
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Blue hills is the closest. About 20-25 minutes away
chuckstah
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Nobscot Mtn in Framingham. Fun after a storm.
They recently put an assisted living place in there so I am not ssure how accessible the old trails are or even if they stilll exist. It may have grown over....
Puck it
Well-known member
I forgot about that. Oops!
Bumpsis
Well-known member
The Blue Hills ski area is not friendly to earning your turns but when the cover is good, you can find a few good lines quite easily. The place is big and there are areas where the undergrowth is not that bad and the tree spacing is what you find in many "glades" in resorts up north.
But it all boils down to cover.
But it all boils down to cover.
MadMadWorld
Active member
I lived in Waltham for a number of years and earned my turns there quite a bit! There is an old ski bump at Cat Rock (not sure if that's the real name) that is right on the Weston/Waltham line. In the woods you can see the remnants of a very old tow rope. that I would build a jump and then just ski down and hike up all day. A lot of kids sled there but some HS and college students have put up some decent size kickers and even a rail or two. The bigger challenge is not getting bitten or fall in dog poo because all of the dog walkers in the area go there.
skiNEwhere
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When I originally stated blue hills I didn't realize he only wanted BC. But I'll still echo this. In really good snow years, you can ski the rt 128 side!!
Highway Star
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Wachusett loves uphill skiers, make sure you go check them out!
joshua segal
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They are lovely glades on the Rt. 128-side of the chair. Only found them skiable a couple of times.
There are maintained bike trails back of units and a parking lot somewhere on property, hope to try BC there this year
MadMadWorld
Active member
Anyone ski the Pine Hill Trail off the back of WaWa in a few years? It's been 10 years ago for me and it was getting grown in. It's narrow and rocky but can be fun. It needs a lot of base and would be enjoyable in March. There are some interesting slides off of rt2 when you get towards the Berks but that's more than 45 min!
noreasterbackcountry
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KevinF
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I've heard that Wachusett's Pine Hill Trail was originally cut as a ski trail, but I've never seen hard evidence to confirm that (i.e., old trail maps or whatever). Does any one know what its original purpose was? Was it ever lift-serviced or was it always a "earn your turns" type of trail?
It's nowhere near the current ski-area trails and as mentioned above, it needs a lot of cover... just doesn't seem like it would ever have been skiable all that often.
As for the original question in the thread -- Marlboro (where I live) has Jericho Hill. It's now a small park / recreation area. I have yet to hike up / ski-down... one of these years.
It's nowhere near the current ski-area trails and as mentioned above, it needs a lot of cover... just doesn't seem like it would ever have been skiable all that often.
As for the original question in the thread -- Marlboro (where I live) has Jericho Hill. It's now a small park / recreation area. I have yet to hike up / ski-down... one of these years.
reefer
Well-known member
Ha! Took the granddaughter sledding there last week. There were some ski/board tracks from the summit. Five years in Marlboro and haven't hiked up with the skis yet myself......................
becca m
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Pine Hill Trail was a CCC-cut ski trail (with some others on the hill) from the 1930's. Looks skiable with just a little walk from the summit lift. At the bottom of the trail you'd have to walk the road a bit back to the Wa-Wa side, but, doesn't look bad. Unfortunately, the trailwork to create steps in the trailfor hiking put a bunch of rocks at 90-degrees to the steps and they stick out around 12-18". Looks skiable with less cover if you can avoid those.
MadMadWorld
Active member
Well that just brought back memories of HS/college! Looks like some people have done a better job maintaining it then in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Park a car down the access road or hitch a ride. It's not that far to be honest. I used to do it a bunch when I was an instructor. The trail is very accessible and most people hike it during the summer. But like you mentioned the rocks can suck. The photo that NEBC posted must have been after a very big storm because I haven't seen it in that good of shape since winter of 98!
KevinF
Member
Now that I think about it, yes you could ski Pine Hill Trail with minimal walking. As mentioned above, the start is a short walk from the summit lift.
Once you get back to the visitor center, you just need to walk *up* the auto / access road to the "upper" lot (maybe 200 yards at most and most of it is actually downhill) and look for the Dunbrowo Trail on your right. You could either ski that trail down to the base (although it would be really tight!) or take some other pretty obvious bushwacks over to the beginner hill and ski that back to the base.
Hmmmm. Might have to do this sometime this winter. :smile:
Once you get back to the visitor center, you just need to walk *up* the auto / access road to the "upper" lot (maybe 200 yards at most and most of it is actually downhill) and look for the Dunbrowo Trail on your right. You could either ski that trail down to the base (although it would be really tight!) or take some other pretty obvious bushwacks over to the beginner hill and ski that back to the base.
Hmmmm. Might have to do this sometime this winter. :smile:
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