The Road Less Travelled/Cross-Country Skiing in the Ambler NY State Forest

Volume 21-An Awesome January Outing

Welcome back to my series on outdoor adventure. After a slow start (snow-wise), January turned out to be a good month for cross-country skiing. We received about a foot of snow on Martin Luther King Day, which set the stage for some nice skiing. The cold temperatures for the rest of the month ensured that conditions remained excellent. After my first outing of the year in late December, I was able to ski 4 times during January.

Ambler State Forest is a relatively small NY State Forest. At 629 acres it is one of the smaller ones here in Chenango County NY. Plenty big enough, however, to enjoy a nice outing. I visit here quite often, I love to mountain bike here as it has a nice forest road about 1.75 in length. It also has a nice road leading to the forest, which is good for bike riding. On this outing, however, I focused just on the forest road.

Luckily, the old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) truck trail from the 1930s in this forest is used by snowmobiles and was packed nicely. These are the conditions I love the best as I get older. I have broken many a trail in the past, but it is much more difficult. Skiing on a packed surface is wonderful; a track-set rail is even better but hard to find in this area.

I skied a total of about 4 miles, taking the forest road all the way and back, and also taking a side trail a little ways. The snowmobile trail follows the truck trail for about 1 mile of the 1.75 miles, then veers off through fields and continues on. It’s amazing how different the trail is in the winter, as the snow transforms the surroundings into a winter wonderland. It’s also notable how much faster the trail goes on bike compared to skiing. For biking it is a relatively short ride; for skiing, it is a good challenge and pretty much my limit for an outing.

Are you a retiree/and or in your 60s or even older and never tried cross-country skiing? I recently wrote an article that may encourage you to give it a try.

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