Our goal is to create a backcountry “wilderness” cross country ski experience that the whole family could enjoy and contribute to building a healthy community. After nineteen years this is our largest expansion yet with over 50 kilometers of groomed skate and classic ski trails. Along with the new trails will be two 2.5 kilometer ski courses that have been designed by Morton Trails to the International Ski Federation Homologation ("Olympic") standards. There are two main entrances, one at 1756 NH RT 118 in Dorchester, New Hampshire and the other along a residential road between Reservoir Pond in Lyme and Cummins Pond in Dorchester, NH.
This is true wilderness skiing on groomed cross country ski trails with 4 warming huts to visit along the way to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.
Fee Required:
There are no fees required to use these trails but we hope to earn a SMILE from the skiers that explore them. Earning that smile is much more valuable than any kind of monetary gain we could ever receive. And if you have a really good ski experience maybe you can bring that SMILE home with you and share it with others.
Trail Design:
The majority of trails were designed by John Morton and built by us over the last nineteen years. John was a ski coach at Dartmouth for over 10 years, has been to the Olympics as a cross country ski biathlon participant or team leader five times and currently designs trails internationally at Morton Trails.
Maps:
We have large 24"x36" map kiosks at just about every ski trail intersection. You can also view the trails on the Trailforks app. On this website is a downloadable jpeg map and a geo-referenced pdf map that is compatible with an app called Avenza.
Parking:
There are two main entrances, one at 1756 NH RT 118 in Dorchester, New Hampshire and the other along a residential road between Reservoir Pond in Lyme and Cummins Pond in Dorchester, NH.
Warming Huts:
We have opened up four of our cabins to use as warming huts, they are shown on the maps. These cabins have wood stoves, small cook stoves, water and of course hot chocolate. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 we are not able to open the warming huts during the 2021 season, sorry. We do have a fire pit with outside cook stove for hot chocolate near the Cummins Pond warming hut.
Other Cabins & Buildings:
Please do not go near the other cabins or buildings on the property. We have a ton of trails and a lot of property for the public to explore and only small areas near the cabins are marked as private. Please help us out by respecting that.
Grooming Schedule:
When there is sufficient snow we usually groom on Thursdays and Fridays to prepare for the weekend when 90% of the skiers are skiing or soon after a snow event. We do consider this wilderness skiing and since the area is so large conditions do change on a regular basis so we do not usually post individual trail conditions.
Dogs on Trails:
This is a controversial topic but assuming they are extremely well behaved with other dogs and skiers they can join you. If a dog does interfere with others a skier may ask you to leash your dog. It is extremely difficult for a skier to avoid a dog while skiing down a high elevation ski trail so we would recommend not bringing dogs on the upper section of Smarts Mountain Trail or the upper section of Mudgett Trail.
Fat Bikes, Jogging and Walking on Ski Trails During the Winter:
Sorry our cross country ski trails just cannot handle these activities in the winter months. Of course you can walk to the Barnhouse to use the loaner skies. Please do not ski in the rain, it just hurts the trails for everyone else and creates a lot of additional work for us. Snow shoes are ok to use on the ski trails.
Snowmobile Trails:
We have tried to separate the cross country ski trails from the snowmobile trails but we do share a few. Please ski on the right hand side and move off the trail when you hear a snowmobile coming. There are no snowmobiles allowed on the cross country ski trails other than Green Woodlands personnel.
Phones and Cell Service:
There is virtually no cell service on the property. There is a phone and emergency equipment in the Small Barn next to the Barnhouse by Cummins Pond and phones in the Tiny House by the NH RT 118 Parking Lot and the warming hut on the West Loop at 1571 North Dorchester Road.
Commercial Activities:
We do not charge anyone for the use of Green Woodlands property in any manner and we do not expect anyone else to charge for the use of our property either. This includes any other organizations whether they be for-profit, non-for-profit, group or individual that wants to do; tours, guides, lessons, training, equipment rentals, group activities, advertising or any other commercial, monetization or donation base use of Green Woodlands property.
Important Notices
Cross Country Skiing and entering the property at your own risk
SKIING AT YOUR OWN RISK: We are fortunate that New Hampshire has very strong laws limiting landowner liability when they allow the public to use their property. Without this release of liability most of the trails and millions of acres of private property that are used by the public for recreational purposes such as this would be closed. This is just a reminder that you enter this property “AT YOUR OWN RISK”.
You should enter this property with an understanding that skiing is a hazardous sport; bare spots, ice, changing snow, bumps, rocks, trees, moose, grooming equipment, getting lost, snowmobiles, dogs, and other hazards exist. You must recognize such dangers, whether marked or unmarked, and realize that falls and collisions are common, and injuries may result. By entering this property, you accept the hazards and dangers of injury incident thereto, including negligence and carelessness on the part of others.
We do not have trail guards or monitors and we do not perform an end of day sweep of the trails. In other words, this is wilderness property and we all have to be responsible for ourselves. Note there is almost no cell service out here.
Thank you and enjoy,
Green Woodlands Foundation
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