By Tamsin Venn
It’s nearly time to trade in ocean waves for mainland trails. Lucky for us some of the best summer kayaking routes transform into some of the best Nordic skiing trails in winter when forest glades get blanketed by snow, lakes and rivers freeze, and we’re back on solid ground. But we’re still in some of our favorite spots.
Credit: Tamsin Venn
Credit: Tupper Lake Sustainable Tourism
Adirondacks
Take the Adirondack Park in northern New York made up of 2,800 lakes and ponds, and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams. The paddling here is endless. At Long Lake or Fish Creek Pond, where we have gone every summer for nearly two decades with the Rhode Island Canoe and Kayak Club, we paddle for miles and miles from one pond to another using the old Native American carries. In winter you can do these same routes via woods and frozen ponds.
Near Long Lake (not too far from Saranac Lake) is the Whitney C. Whitney and Round Lake Wilderness Area where in winter you can traverse untrammeled wilderness on summer hiking trails. A popular backcountry route is the Lake Lila Access Road closed to public traffic in winter, when officials put a gate across it.
You can also stick to the trails at well-known Nordic Centers such as Garnet Hill Lodge, Whiteface Club and Resort, Paul Smith’s College VIC, and Mt. Hoevenberg, training center for the U.S. Nordic Ski Team. Many are multi-use with snowshoe tracks parallel to the Nordic tracks.
The more ambitious can glide, or snowshoe, along the less rugged parts of the famous 138-mile-long Northville-Placid Trail, established in 1924, one of the oldest long-distance trails in the country, or XC ski nearly 25 miles from Keene through Lake Placid and Saranac Lake to Paul Smiths on the Jackrabbit Ski Trail. That trail is named in honor of Norwegian Jackrabbit Johannsen, a legendary ski pioneer in the Adirondacks, who laid out many of the original routes. He lived to age 111. Clearly skiing played a hand.
Credit: Nate Harvey
Credit: Tamsin Venn
Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center in Pinkham Notch, Gorham, N.H., offers a great network of Nordic trails right at the base of the towering Mt. Washington in the Presidential Range. At 1,600 feet in an area known as the Glen, the snow is plentiful and the 45-km network of groomed and backcountry trails, are rolling, well marked and groomed.
In summer, one can meander down the nearby Androscoggin River with Great Glen’s Kayak Program Director Nate Harvey (who has been working here since 1997 and guiding kayak excursions for almost as long). He offers a half-day or full-day guided wildlife kayaking tour on a flatwater section of the Androscoggin River, which flows 178 miles through Maine and New Hampshire. Small groups mean less noise and better chance of spotting bear, deer, or moose. May or September migrations mean 100 species of birds to observe. More up-tempo, Harvey also offers a whitewater all-day kayaking clinic for beginners, no experience necessary, a fast-growing program here.
Winter or summer, stay trailside at The Glen House, an airy Architecture Digest-worthy building that is both rustic and sleek and has pioneered state-of-the-art green technology. Half of the hotel’s 68 rooms have balconies facing the Northern Presidentials, so chances are good you’ll have a room with a view.
Credit: Sunapee Trading Post
Credit: Kurt Wehde
Sunapee, N.H.
Downhill ski resorts located above lakes cast one into a different frame of mind, keeping one primed for a return visit in the opposite season. In the east one of the most spectacular views is from New Hampshire’s Mt. Sunapee Ski Resort’s summit. Though there are many others. Ski down the Skyway overlooking a snow-covered Lake Sunapee for one of the best views in New England. As a mid-sized area, Sunapee has 66 trails that are varied and full of character.
Kayaking on Lake Sunapee is especially scenic during fall foliage season with its blast of colors. We like to put in at the public launch at Sunapee Harbor and follow the lake around the edges, staying away from motorboats, past the John Hay National Wildlife Refuge, but venturing out to the Loon Lighthouse, one of three on the lake. The lake has five public boat launches areas, and you can spot a car for a one-way trip. Strong winds can whip up whitecaps on wide and long lakes just as easily as the ocean, so always check your weather radio before heading out.
So many summer house owners mean a lot of housing available in winter.
Credit: Utah’s Adventure Family
Credit: Tamsin Venn
Deer Valley, Utah
Out west, I catch the same sense of the seasons when skiing Stein’s Way at Deer Valley Resort, Utah, that overlooks the Jordanelle Reservoir. In summer, you can rent kayaks and paddleboards from Jordanelle Rentals & Marina. The best place to paddle kayaks or SUPs is at the large wake-free zone at the Hailstone Recreation Area. Quiet also is the Rock Cliffs area on the east side where the Provo River enters. It is known as a hotspot for bird and wildlife watching. In any event, best to aim for (very) early morning before the winds and jet skis wake up.
Photos: Tamsin Venn
Your Own Backyard
Then there’s my own backyard where summer kayaking in the marshes gives way to XC over frozen marsh, best at low tide, avoiding incoming tide in ditches, and climbing up and over Castle Hill owned by the Trustees of Reservations, protecting Massachusetts’ open space since 1891. Here I pick a day when the snow is light, the ocean wind tame, the sun bright, and thousands of surf scoters call from below in Ipswich Bay while I’m schussing down the Grand Allee. Coastal winter playgrounds don’t get much better than that.
