Peninsula skiers have options aplenty
Like a moviegoer in New York, a football fan in Texas or a wine connoisseur in Napa Valley, a cross-country skier on the Kenai Peninsula has plenty of enticing options.
Whether it's stupendous views, routes to cabins, simple slides through the woods or leg-leadening climbs up hills, the peninsula has the trails to fit the bill.
Here is a closer look at the 11 groomed cross-country ski trails of the peninsula.
Tsalteshi Trails
The trail head, which provides access to about 15 total kilometers of trails, is located behind Skyview High School. A trip around the outermost loop at Tsalteshi is about seven kilometers.
All difficulties of skiing are available at the trails, which are well-marked with signs. Tsalteshi's red loop will challenge the most ardent skiers, while flat terrain around the soccer field works for beginners.
"It's laid out where, as you go back farther in the woods, each trail is a little more difficult," said Penny McClain, the chair of the Tsalteshi Trails Association.
The trails were started in 1990, and nearly all of their construction and labor comes from the Tsalteshi Trails Association, a nonprofit group of volunteers. McClain said five volunteers rotate grooming the trails on an as-needed basis, with each grooming taking between six and eight hours.
"It's well-wooded with cottonwood, birch and spruce," McClain said. "It's a glacial moraine with dips, valleys and hills, so it leads to a nice experience whether you are skiing, biking or running.
"It's pretty quiet out there. You can hear a little bit of traffic, but you really get the experience of being by yourself."
McClain said the trails are generally groomed for skating and classical skiing.
Kenai Nordic Trails
The Kenai Nordic Trails are located on the Kenai Golf Course, while the main trail head is near the end of Lawton Drive. The trails are maintained by the city of Kenai Parks and Recreation, with some help coming from volunteers. Parks and Recreation has groomed the trails since 1996.
Bob Frates, the director of Parks and Rec, said the trails are an excellent place for skiers to get their start.
"I'd rank it as pretty easy," Frates said. "There's only one midsection loop that is of some difficulty due to the nature of the slope of a hill."
The trails offer five loops, with the perimeter loop measuring five kilometers. As one would expect, the trails are mostly out in the open because they are on a golf course.
"We tried to incorporate challenging aspects of the terrain," Frates said. "When we set tracks, we look at not only the terrain, but also aesthetics. We try to give the skier good views and loop the trails through some of the woods."
Frates said the trails are groomed on an as-needed basis. Skating and classical skiing usually are available. Also, there is a new trail head this year on Lawton Drive on the east side of Coral Seymour Memorial Park. It can fit three or four cars.
Trails behind Nikiski Pool
The trail head is located in the parking lot of the Nikiski Pool. The trails are a hair over three kilometers with one continuous loop that crosses back and forth on itself.
"It's an excellent place to start skiing," said Dale Bakk, who grooms the trails. "Most of it is nice, gentle, rolling hills. I would rate it in the easy category with, maybe, a couple challenging little dips.
"I've noticed there are more and more families going out there with kids."
Even though the trails are never really far from the parking lot and have lots of signs, they give a nice illusion of isolation.
"It's totally in the woods, from start to finish," Bakk said. "You can't see anybody's house. The closest the trail gets to habitation is a trail that goes over to the elementary schools."
Due to new grooming equipment, Bakk said, this year he will try to groom the trails every time it snows and at least once a week. He also would like to try and provide skating and classical skiing.
Bakk said the final benefit of the pool trails is that with the trail head in the parking lot of the Nikiski Pool, skiers are never far from the hot tub.
Nikiski Community Trails
The trails are located in the parking lot of Nikiski Middle-Senior High School. They are about five-and-a-half kilometers long when they are all groomed.
"They would be more of a moderate difficulty," Bakk said. "We have some hills out there you need to exercise caution on, but they're marked pretty well."
The trails have been around for a while, but last year the North Peninsula Recreation Department took over maintenance and upkeep from a group of volunteers. They also put in a series of signs to mark the trails.
"The trail is all out in the woods, and there are a couple small lakes the trail loops around as you go through the woods," said Bakk, who also is Nikiski's high school ski coach. "There's a view of the inlet, and at times it really is gorgeous.
"There are times we're practicing out there as a team on a nice sunny afternoon, with clear blue skis, when we'll just pull up to the edge of the bluff, sit, and watch the tides roll."
Bakk said skiing at the community trails should be good this year due to a grooming instrument he now has that packs the snow down. Before, he had to do all the packing by continuously running over the trail on a snowmachine. Bakk says he will try to groom the trail for skating and classical skiing.
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Trails
There have been ski trails at the refuge since the 1960s, and all through the 1970s people would flock to the refuge on the weekends to ski.
Now that so many other peninsula trails are available, the refuge trails don't get the use they once did, but this can make the perfect environment for some.
There are four loops available at the trails, with the longest being six miles. The trails don't have school groups using them for practices, so they aren't groomed as diligently as many on the peninsula. They are for classical skiing only.
When Headquarters Lake freezes, there also is a one-and-a-half-mile trail that goes around the lake.
Exit Glacier Road
These trails are located in Seward at about Mile 5 of the Seward Highway. Rich Houghton, the ski coach at Seward's high school, said the trails can be as long as eight miles one way. They are relatively flat and gradually slope as they follow the Resurrection River.
Houghton said the trail is mostly groomed for skating, although at times there will be classical tracks. He also said a little rain and wind can turn conditions icy in a hurry, so it's best to call the National Park Service if there are any doubts.
The trail, which is generally out in the open, also is open to snowmachiners, so skiers can expect a little company.
The National Park Service has cabins available for rent by Exit Glacier. The earlier the skier reserves the cabin, the better.
Mile 12 Ski Trails
The trail head is located at Mile 12 of the Seward Highway and has access to two loops with three kilometers of trails.
"It's intermediate to advanced skiing, depending on what loops you do," Houghton said.
In their current form, the trails, which cut through hemlock and spruce, are about 3 years old. Houghton said groomers try to keep the trail open for classical and skate skiing, but at times massive dumps of snow can get the best of them, such as last winter when grooming equipment was buried.
"We could've skied there June 10," Houghton said.
Glacier Creek
These trails begin off Stony Creek Drive, which is located at Mile 6 of the Seward Highway. The round-trip length of the trails is seven kilometers.
"It's up a creek bed and back down again," Houghton said. "The trails are for beginner and intermediate skiers. There aren't any hills."
Snowmachine traffic keeps the trails packed down, but Houghton said the trail will be groomed for skiing about once a week. Classic tracks are available some of the time.
Baycrest Ski Trails
If traveling from Soldotna toward Homer, Baycrest can be found by taking a left on Roger's Loop Road from the Sterling Highway. Roger's Loop is before the big hill into Homer and just after the Texaco station. Be aware that the location of the trail head could change (See story, page C-1).
When all of Baycrest's trails are groomed, it offers 25 kilometers of skiing.
Mike Flora, who is on the board of directors for the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club, said Baycrest has been around, in varying forms, for almost 30 years.
"Baycrest is in a valley and puts you in some heavily wooded terrain," Flora said. "That's an enclosed area that is out of the wind.
"If it's a sunny day, you can go up the hillside. That's a bunch of vertical gain. The grassy hillside gives a nice view of Kachemak Bay."
Flora said groomers try to diligently maintain Baycrest for classical and skate skiing. All levels of skiing are available at the trails.
McNeil Canyon Ski Trails
The trail head is located in the parking lot of McNeil Canyon Elementary School, which is 12 miles out East End Road. When it's all groomed, McNeil offers seven-and-a-half kilometers of skiing.
The trails, which started to come about when the elementary school was first built and occupied in 1983, provide skiing for all levels. Some short loops are frequented by elementary school students, while the long loop throws some challenging ups and downs at experienced skiers.
"McNeil has a wonderful panoramic view of Kachemak Bay," Flora said. "Really wonderful. You can see the bay as well as Bald Mountain and Redoubt."
Flora said groomers also usually have McNeil in good shape due to races that are often held there. He said classic tracks are put in as much as possible, but also said there's a better chance of a classic track being at Baycrest than McNeil.
Lookout Mountain
The trail head is located on Ohlson Mountain Road in Homer. These trails are for beginners and intermediates, but their main purpose is to provide early season skiing. Since they are on fields, only 6 inches of snow is needed to make them skiable. Once McNeil and Baycrest get a lot of snow, use and grooming fall off dramatically, if not totally, at Lookout.
If fully groomed, Lookout can offer about five kilometers of skiing.