J. Gregory Gerdel
The capital city region has a wealth of Nordic ski trails within minutes of downtown Montpelier but is also within an hour of many centers and trail systems that are well-mapped and regularly groomed.
Although this winter began with open ski trails at the North Branch Trails, Country Club Road, Hubbard Park, Sherwood Forest (Onion River Nordic Club), and both Montpelier and U- 32 high schools, a series of thaws in early January, some problems with grooming equipment, and a yet-to-be-substantial base of snow has limited local skiing this winter. Perhaps, the winter of 2024–25, when a thaw really didn’t happen and small but refreshing snowfall seemed to arrive every other day, was a bit of a spoiler for expectations this year.
On the other hand, with Vermont’s micro-climates bringing a great variety of snowfall and conditions, higher elevations have enjoyed substantial, and in several cases, record snowfall to date. Within roughly an hour’s drive from the capital city, cross country skiers can visit at least a dozen groomed trail systems. Those include:
Blueberry Lake, Warren
Bolton Valley Nordic, Bolton
Burke Dashney Nordic Center, East Burke
Camel’s Hump Nordic Center, Huntington
Catamount Outdoor Center, Williston
Kingdom Trails, East Burke
Millstone Trails, Websterville (East Barre)
Ole’s XC, Warren
Rickert Outdoor Center, Bread Loaf Campus, Ripton
Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski & Bike Center, Huntington
Stowe Cross Country, Stowe
von Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe
Complete listings and links to trail conditions can be found at
SkiVermont.com and Trail Hub (northeastern Vermont): trailhub.org/all. Conditions updates for trails in the local area: nordic-pulse.com/ski-areas/US/VT
