XC Skiing at STowe

[hudsonhacker]

I am going to be at Stowe for 4 days mid march. I am going to be skiing for 3 of those, but would like to take one afternoon to go XC skiing with my GF. That being said, I live in an area where I walk out my back door and put my XC skis on and jump into the woods, so going to a "nordic center" and paying $20 to XC ski goes against my beliefs. Does anyone now of any good XC trails around Stowe that a person can just go and use for free? (I know about the Stowe recreation path) Looking for something in the woods, maybe somewhere with good photo opportunities. Oh yeah, we are not skate skiers, just classic XC skiers, so do not need a skate type track, just some local inside knowledge of potential trails. I hope this isn't akin to asking where the secret powder stashes are for alpine skiing!

Thanks in advance.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wiesner Woods. I don't X-country ski, but do know people do in there and public access is free

http://www.stowelandtrust.org/conserved/properties/wiessnerwoods/

I also know that people x country ski up off of Brownsville Road

 

[hudsonhacker]

Deadhead

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for!

Everywhere on the net where I try and find this info out, it always leads back to the Trapp Lodge or the Stowe Nordic center, so a bit of local knowledge goes a long way!!

If you ever need info about skiing North of the Border in Quebec, let me now!

 

[marcski]

http://www.catamounttrail.org/

I skied part of it just south of 89 a couple of weeks ago...heading up into Camel's Hump state forest. It is really very nice...!

This section seems nice for a day from Stowe:

http://www.catamounttrail.org/trail/sections/section24/

 

[snowmonster]

The Goodman book (Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast) describes a tour through the Nebraska Notch and Overland Trails. Unlike the other Mansfied tours described there which may involve accessing the Stowe XC center, this one seems free. FWIW, skiiing up the Stowe resort trails (the alpine skiing trails on Mansfield) is free. Last Sunday, I was actually thinking of skinning up Toll Road at Stowe then taking the Bruce trail down to the XC center and back to the car. If it weren't for cheap tickets to Smuggs, I would have checked this off my list.