Our winter guide and the journal both make the case for Nordic and snowshoe days around Lincoln; this page skips the case and gives you the list. Every trail below is within an hour of the lodge, and each entry tells you the four things that decide the day: how far, whether it's groomed or wild, what it costs, and who it is for. Bring microspikes regardless — every trailhead here ices.
One rule up front: snowshoers, stay off the groomed classic tracks at the ticketed centers. It is the fastest way to be politely hated. Walk the snowshoe lanes or the wild trails.
Groomed, ticketed centers
Loon Mountain Nordic — at the resort's base, 6 min from the lodge: a groomed network for classic and skate along the Pemigewasset and up into the woods, rentals and lessons on site, a day-ticket fee. The most convenient groomed skiing in the valley and the right first stop for beginners; check loonmtn.com for the current trail count and grooming report, which change with the season.
Bretton Woods Nordic Center — about an hour north at the Omni Mount Washington Resort: one of the largest groomed networks in the East, tens of miles across the resort's meadows and woods with the Presidentials as backdrop, rentals, lessons, a day fee. The destination day for serious Nordic skiers, and the best sheer variety within reach.
Waterville Valley Nordic — 40 min south, tucked in its own valley: a groomed system through the woods around the village, sheltered from wind, with rentals and a fee. Pairs with an alpine day there for the split-interest couple.
Free and groomed-ish
Franconia Notch Recreation Path — the paved summer bike path through the notch becomes an ungroomed-but-packed ski and snowshoe corridor in winter, from the Flume area north toward the Basin and beyond: flat to gently rolling, free, spectacular under the cliffs, and busy on sunny weekends. Park at the Basin or Flume lots (state park; check winter access). The best free Nordic mile in the region.
Lincoln Woods Trail — 9 min from the lodge at the Kancamagus trailhead: the wide, flat old railroad grade along the East Branch of the Pemigewasset, packed by traffic into a natural ski-and-snowshoe highway for miles into the wilderness. WMNF parking fee. Wild, not groomed, but so flat and wide it skis like a trail. Turn around whenever; the river never gets less pretty. Check current access — parts of the Lincoln Woods area carried a closure in 2026.
Snowshoe classics — wild trails with a payoff
Lonesome Lake — from Lafayette Place, 12 min north: about a mile and a half of steady climbing to a frozen lake with the Franconia Range across it, and the AMC hut on the far shore (self-service in winter). Packed hard by traffic; snowshoes or spikes. The best snowshoe payoff for the effort in the notch. Free (state park lot).
Artist Bluff — 9 min: a short, steep 20 min climb to a ledge above Echo Lake with the whole notch laid out white. Icy on the ledges; spikes essential. Free. Georgiana Falls — 5 min: a gentle-then-steep mile-plus to a frozen cascade, from a tiny lot that is not plowed. Mount Willard — 40 min in Crawford Notch: the winter classic, 1.6 miles up an old carriage grade to the great cliff view down the notch; free; the most popular snowshoe in the Whites for a reason.
Sabbaday Falls — 30 min out the Kancamagus: a third of a mile to a frozen three-step falls, gated and icy in deep winter, easy when open. WMNF fee lot.
Rentals and gear
Loon and Bretton Woods rent Nordic skis and snowshoes on site; the outdoor shops in Lincoln and North Woodstock rent snowshoes and sell microspikes — call ahead on holiday weekends. Poles are worth having for every snowshoe trail above; a headlamp is worth having in your pocket from December on, when the light goes at four-thirty.
Which one to choose
Never Nordic-skied: Loon's center, with a lesson. Serious skate skier: Bretton Woods, make a day of it. Free and flat and beautiful: the notch path or Lincoln Woods. Snowshoe with a view for the effort: Lonesome Lake or Mount Willard. 20 spare min and spikes: Artist Bluff. Our winter guide covers the season around all of these; this page is just the map.
Where to stay
Loon's Nordic center and Lincoln Woods are both under 10 min from the door; the notch trails 15 min. Winter midweek here is the quiet best of the year — the trails above with nobody on them, then steam heat and a fireplace.
Sources & official info: loonmtn.com · brettonwoods.com · nhstateparks.org · fs.usda.gov
— Launchpoint Lodge, From the lodge
