Guidelines for Trail Users
**Maps are linked near the bottom of the page. Please download and/or print before you leave home because cell service may be spotty at the trailheads.**
There are two separate trails this year- the Pond to Pond trail that connects Spectacle Pond to Grafton Pond, and about a mile of varied and lovely trails at Open Woods Farm available to use at any time.
Also, Isinglass Trails is maintaining a beginner loop on the Grafton Rec Field for young people, old people, beginners, etc. No hills, no lakes, no getting lost….
Isinglass Trails is for all skiers and snowshoers to use free of charge, provided they respect landowners, the environment, and other trail users.
Please read the following before you leave home. Failure to adhere to these guidelines places the entire trail network at risk, regardless of whether the abuse is intentional or negligent.
A note on lake ice: the novice-intermediate sections of the Pond to Pond trail are only accessible this year via ice across Spectacle Pond or Grafton Pond. Traveling on frozen bodies of water is inherently risky, but this risk can be managed. Skiing across a pond can also be really fun! Efforts are being made to regularly document dated ice thickness at each trailhead for user information. Please remember that just a few warm days can make a substantial difference in ice safety.
Skis and snowshoes only
Walking, fat bikes, dog sleds, and horses are not permitted. Trail users are REQUIRED to have skis or snowshoes with them while using this trail network. Landowners who participate in hosting the trail network are requested but not required to do the same on their own property. Trail users may of course remove their skis if they are not comfortable going up or down any given hill, or if the trail is glare ice. However, snow conditions can change unpredictably and quickly, depending on aspect, elevation, time of day and other factors. Deep postholes and shallow footprints alike wreck the trail surface at least until the next storm, possibly for the remainder of the season, and render the trail choppy and dangerous for other users. Snowshoeing and especially skiing are very awkward for a beginner but rapidly become far more natural and efficient than walking in bare boots in the snow. Little kids who don’t ski or may tire of skiing should have a sled or a pulk (sled with rigid poles for safe downhill control) to ride in. The bottom line is: Users need to have snow flotation with them and use it before they ruin the trail.
Absolutely no snowmobiles are allowed on Isinglass Trails except the authorized groomer and HONEST emergency rescue. If you want more places to ride, please get involved with a local snowmobile club. They are awesome and can always use extra help.
Isinglass Trails is open for public use only when there is legitimate snow cover. It is possible some trails and their respective landowners will allow for year-round use, but that is the exception and it will be clearly communicated where that is the case.
No roadside parking
The Towns of Grafton and Enfield have a winter parking ban along town roads. Please honor this even if there is no snow in the forecast. The town needs to be able to sand, push banks, manage drainage, prepare for future storms and maintain space for safe passage of traffic and emergency vehicles on narrow roads with big snowbanks. A plow truck with a wing often simply cannot fit past a parked car on back roads. Skiers’ cars parked on the side of the road will not allow Isinglass Trails to maintain a healthy relationship with the local Highway Department and Selectboard. If you use Isinglass Trails you will need to figure out where to park legally AND ethically BEFORE you start skiing. If the parking lot is full at the Grafton Pond Dam or the Stewarts’ parking area across from the Spectacle Pond boat launch, you will need to go elsewhere or carpool better. Don’t park on the side of the road!
No dogs
Dogs belonging to public users are NOT allowed on Isinglass Trails. Dogs ruin the groomed surface, they are often a hazard to other skiers or other dogs, and it is largely impractical to ski with a dog on a leash. Please acknowledge that dogs ARE allowed to roam the trail on their own property for dog-owning landowners who participate in Isinglass Trails.
Nothing fancy here
The most appropriate equipment for Isinglass Trails is regular recreational cross-country skis or snowshoes. The trails are too narrow for skate skiing. There is no set track for performance classic skiing. Metal edges may occasionally help in certain conditions but generally are not needed. The trails are likely too tame to enjoy telemark or randonnee. Users are welcome to try any of the above, but may find they can’t make full use of their equipment’s potential.
It is not permissible to charge anyone money for services facilitated directly by the use of Isinglass Trails. This includes guides, instructors, group leaders, etc. Please do not exploit this free community resource.
Races and/or large group training are not an acceptable use of Isinglass Trails. Teams are expected to visit a regular nordic center instead. Small groups of just a few people who want to ski long and fast and who can deal with the conditions are more than welcome to train here. Please do not use Isinglass Trails to host organized events, even if participation is free of charge.
Keep right
All trail users keep to the right when encountering others. To overtake other trail users please communicate clearly and pass on the left. Try to stop in sensible places that offer good visibility in both directions, especially on hills, and please take breaks off the groomed surface of the trail.
Some short sections of connecting trail will inevitably be on snowmobile trails. Once again, ALL trail users stay to the right. A very frustrating experience for a snowmobiler is to have a group of oblivious skiers scatter in both directions forcing the snowmobile to run a narrow gauntlet. This wouldn’t be mentioned if it wasn’t a regular occurrence on shared-use trails. Also, please don’t stand like a statue if you hear a snowmobile approaching. Make sure to wave assertively and/or continue to actively ski and you will be MUCH more likely to be seen before the snowmobile gets too close. Bright colors are very helpful. A snowmobiler cannot slow down for you if they do not know you are there. Snowmobile clubs are just about the most impressive community organizations in existence, and without them there would be limited precedent for a trail network connecting multiple private properties. Snowmobilers overwhelmingly are wonderful people and they deserve the respect any other trail user receives on multi-use trails.
You’re on your own
Using Isinglass Trails is inherently dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. You can be impaled by a tree branch or crack your head open on a rock. You can break your leg. You can fall through the ice. You can get hypothermia and die when it is 30 below, or when it is 50 above if you are exhausted and it is raining or windy. It can get dark real fast and you can get lost. Grooming is not guaranteed. Untracked snow can be disorienting and you can expend all your energy breaking trail. Cell service can be unreliable deep in the woods and the cold significantly limits usable phone battery life. Please be prepared with adequate and appropriate clothing, quick high-energy food, plenty of water in insulated bottles or kept inside your backpack to avoid freezing, a headlamp with good batteries that is NOT just your phone flashlight, relevant survival equipment, and metered, deliberate use of common sense. If you don’t know what you are doing, ask for help, start small, and go in a group. Please do not use Isinglass Trails solo unless you have substantial ski or snowshoe experience in a backcountry setting. Isinglass Trails is NOT patrolled and users do so entirely at their own risk.
