The crushed-stone surfaces of Acadia’s carriage roads make them ideal for cross country skiing in the wintertime. Add the park’s spectacular scenery and trail grooming by the volunteers of the Acadia Winter Trails Association, and it is no wonder that skiing is a highlight of the season for many area residents and winter visitors.
Winter trail grooming is done by volunteers of the Acadia Winter Trails Association and must be done at times that are both convenient and safe. Volunteers may groom the carriage roads if new snow exceeds six inches, and the roadbed is frozen.
Two teams of volunteers now operate from bases at the Hulls Cover Visitor Center and the Brown Mountain Gatehouse, setting tracks for classic and skate-style cross country skiing on routes established in the grooming agreement with the park. See the map below for route details.
The routes listed on the map below are in priority order for groomer. Also check our Ski Acadia page for the latest grooming reports and a recorded presentation on “Cross Country Skiing on Mount Desert Island” here.
Skiing at Schoodic
Following the construction of new multi-use trails at the Schoodic District of Acadia, grooming has begun at Schoodic Woods for cross-country skiing. Share information about conditions on Facebook or Twitter. Use the hashtag #SkiAcadiaSchoodic when posting or searching for information specific to the Schoodic trails.
A map of the Schoodic trails can be found on the park’s website.
Started in the late 1980s as a personal mission of several local ski enthusiasts, the Acadia Winter Trails Association (AWTA) formally partnered with Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park in 1990. Friends of Acadia provided financial and fundraising assistance to the loyal groomers, and the park added maintenance and other support. Gradually, homemade grooming rigs (bed springs and cinder blocks) were replaced with specialized equipment.
In 2005, the family of Elizabeth R. (Leila) Bright established an equipment fund and an endowment in Leila’s memory and in honor of her love for skiing in Acadia. These provide annual grants to underwrite the purchase and maintenance of grooming equipment, safety training and equipment, fuel, volunteer and staff training and support, and other annual and capital needs of cross-country trail grooming in the park, supporting grooming activities in perpetuity.
With the additional equipment and program support, an expanded cadre of volunteers has been able to groom more ski routes—including the Aunt Betty’s Pond, Around Mountain, and Witch Hole carriage roads—sooner, taking full advantage of Mount Desert Island’s unpredictable snow season.
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