By SHANNON BRYAN

Snow days are rare gifts when we’re kids. The magical lure of feet-deep snow drifts and the blissfully insulated outdoors – no pop quizzes or homework in sight—is a winter-long fantasy.

For cross-country skiers on Mount Desert Island, the longing for snow still feels just like that.

It’s no wonder; skiing Acadia National Park’s carriage roads is a unique winter’s delight for many locals and park visitors. So, when the forecast teases incoming snow, skiers get understandably eager.

But recent winters look a little different than many of us remember. Cold temperatures are slower to arrive, snowfall is more sporadic and often followed by rain and warmer temps.

Good snow days aren’t a sure thing, which means we’ve got to seize the skiing while we can.

Splendid captures on the carriage roads of Acadia by cross-country skiers. (Contributed photos by Tony McChesney (left), Jen Grant (top right), and Michael Lessard (bottom right)

“We have visited Acadia for many years, and it was a bucket list item to be able to ski on the carriage roads,” said visitor Jen Grant, who finally got her chance a couple winters back. “The timing and weather made for a magical experience.”

“We love it there. We go every chance we get, but that dang work thing gets in the way sometimes,” joked Tony McChesney. “So fortunate to live only a 45-minute drive from the park.”

The carriage roads welcome winter revelers of all varieties – permitted recreational uses include walking, running, bicycling, snowshoeing, and skiing – but skiers are especially lucky in Acadia National Park. When conditions are right, portions of the park’s carriage roads are groomed by National Park Service volunteers from the Acadia Winter Trails Association (AWTA).

Acadia Winter Trails Association volunteer groomer Mark Fernald navigates a snowmobile to groom a section of the carriage road for skate skiing near Duck Brook Bridge Saturday, February 5, 2022 in Acadia National Park. (Photo by: Ashley L. Conti/Friends of Acadia)

The AWTA was started by a small group of local skiers in the late 1980s who groomed the carriage roads with creative homemade setups like bed springs and cinder blocks. In 1990, the AWTA formally partnered with Friends of Acadia, who provided financial and fundraising assistance, and Acadia National Park, who provided maintenance and other support. Gradually, those homemade rigs were replaced with specialized equipment.

The program was further bolstered in 2005 when the family of Elizabeth R. “Leila” Bright established an equipment fund and an endowment in her memory. Leila loved skiing in Acadia, and those funds enable the purchase and maintenance of grooming equipment, fuel, volunteer and staff training and support, and other needs—in perpetuity.

Today, the AWTA boasts eight active volunteers. When the snow falls and conditions are right, they’ll spend hours grooming the trails, often in the dark hours of night, taking full advantage of Mount Desert Island’s unpredictable snow season.

This volunteer effort is something all cross-country skiers can enjoy in Acadia. And while appreciation and eagerness abound every time the forecast hints at snow, there are some requirements before grooming can begin.

Volunteers can groom the carriage roads if new snow exceeds six inches, and the roadbed is frozen (meaning at least five days of freezing temperatures). Grooming must be done at times that are both convenient and safe, too.

This approach helps ensure the carriage roads remain in top-notch condition, since shallow snow depth and warmer weather/wet conditions soften the carriage roads and make them susceptible to damage. That said, when the temperature is too warm or the snow depth doesn’t reach six inches, skiers are always welcome to set their own tracks.

And in years where snow days are rare, we’ll seize the snow when it’s here.

SHANNON BRYAN is Friends of Acadia’s Content and Website Manager.