J. Gregory Gerdel
With consistently cold weather and a steady series of light to moderate snowfalls, the Montpelier Parks Department, along with the Onion River Nordic Ski Club and area schools have begun grooming winter trails for winter recreation.
While some of these trails are groomed for specific activities, such as Nordic skiing or fat biking, others are designated “multi-use.” That can include everything from snowshoes to running or walking, although the remote possibility of pogo sticks will be discouraged.
Trail maps and current grooming and trail condition reports are available online at nordic-pulse.com for all the local trails referenced in this article and both U-32 and Montpelier high schools.
Avoid Post-holing!
If snow conditions are such that footprints are approaching ankle deep, it’s best to find a plowed recreation path or sidewalks for an outing rather than wreck a trail groomed for other activities. Those conditions include fresh, deep snow, or wet snow during a thaw.
If a hard freeze follows a thaw without at least a few inches of fresh snow, a trail surface that is post-holed and rutted will be an icy mess that will be difficult to groom and of little use to anyone.
Walking in Hubbard Park
After several years of having the machine-set ski tracks in Hubbard Park quickly trampled by walkers, Parks Director Alec Ellsworth decided to groom the park’s trails specifically for walking. Ski tracks are no longer set on those trails, he said.
Because Hubbard Park has designated off-leash areas, it is popular with dog owners, which adds to the trampling of ski tracks.
Skiers are still using Hubbard Park, most often following a fresh snowfall of at least a couple of inches.
North Branch Park and Trails
Because the North Branch Trail provides direct access to the web of groomed fat bike trails on the eastern slopes above the river, multi-use is a given. Skiers also enjoy the banked, twisting traverses that have been built with the collaboration of the Montpelier Area Mountain Bike Association (MAMBA) during recent years.
The association grooms the fat bike trails, which are also susceptible to damage from walkers if the snow is soft. In collaboration with Onion River Outdoors, MAMBA encourages walkers to use the snowshoes available at two of the fat-bike trailheads. Onion River’s Kip Roberts notes that the snowshoes are for use on the trails and should be returned to the trail head racks after use so they will be available to others.
Because the Nature Center is now housing a pre-school on the campus, the parking lot off Elm Street is more crowded than in previous years. Ample and promptly plowed parking is available at the lot between Montpelier’s swimming pool and tennis courts. The footbridge on the east side of the lot provides direct access to the North Branch Trail.
Dog owners should note that the North Branch Trail and the loop at the Nature Center require dogs be on leash.
The Sparrow Farm Trail
The serious washouts on the first hill climb up the historic Sparrow Farm Road have been repaired, providing more direct access to or from the adjacent trail network at the Sparrow Farm, which is groomed for Nordic skiing by the Onion River Nordic Ski Club. At the top of the first hill the road intersects with the MAMBA trail system, then continues to the west side of the large, open fields at the Sparrow Farm. Skiers should be aware that skiing down the often steep Sparrow Farm Road can be challenging if conditions are less than ideal, as many experienced skiers well attest.
North Street and Sherwood Forest Trails
These trails, accessible from the parking lot at the intersection of North Street and Cummings Road, are specifically designed and groomed for Nordic/cross country skiing. The Sparrow Farm Fields and the West Wind trails on either side of North Street are groomed with classical tracks and wide lanes for freestyle/skate skiing. East and north of Cummings Road, the Sherwood Forest network of trails links to the parking area on County Road across from the Morse Farm barn. In addition to trails that were formerly part of the now closed Morse Farm Ski Touring Center, many new trails have been added, both north and south of the Dot’s Meadow field.
Country Club Road Update
Montpelier Parks and the Onion River Nordic Ski Club are collaborating about trail grooming at the former Elks Club. The plan is to clearly designate separate walking and ski trails, which will be open to the public. The popular Bill Koch League ski program, which is already fully enrolled, will again be based at the Country Club property, said Dan Voisin, representing the Onion River Nordic Ski Club. Enrollment for the program is managed by the Montpelier Recreation Department.
