Our goal is to create a “wilderness” cross country ski experience that the whole family can enjoy and contribute to building a healthy community. In 2019 we made our largest expansion yet, all the way to NH-118 in Dorchester, and we now groom over 50 kilometers of skate and classic ski trails. These new trails include two 2.5 kilometer ski courses that have been designed by Morton Trails, to meet the International Ski Federation Homologation ("Olympic") standards. There are two main entrances to the trail system, 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.
Fees: 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.
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.
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 Mudgetts Trail.
Trail uses: Sorry our cross country ski trails cannot handle fat bikes, jogging and walking during the winter: in the winter months. Of course you can walk to the Barnhouse to use the loaner skis. Please do not ski in the rain, it just hurts the trails for everyone else and creates a lot of additional work for us. Snowshoes are okay 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-118 Parking Lot and the warming hut on the West Loop at 1571 North Dorchester Road.
Important Notices:
Cross Country Ski and enter the property 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.
For more information, visit the Green Woodlands website or contact:
Green Woodlands FoundationLyme Side Parking: The parking lot is located at the end of the unpaved Dorchester Road. From NH-10 at the Lyme Town Common, travel 7.7 miles on Dorchester Road and look for the parking lot on the left. This parking lot is closed during mud season, please do not drive down this dirt road during this time.
NH 118 Parking (Winter & Summer): The parking lot is located at 1756 NH Route 118, near downtown Dorchester. From the NH-25 & NH-118 junction in West Rumney, travel 5.9 miles south on NH 118 and look for the parking lot on the right. From the US-4 & NH-118 junction in Canaan, travel 9.2 miles north on NH-118 and look for the parking lot on the left
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