MEDWAY, Maine — With plenty of natural snow, it's a great week to hit the ski trails. Outside Edge ventured up north this week to the Penobscot River Trails in Medway.
“We have 18 miles of trails here. Every trail is tracked, typically double-tracked so you’re able to ski alongside somebody,” Tallie Martin, registered Maine guide and lead coach of the Penobscot River Trails, said.
All routes are groomed and tracked every other day. As you traverse, you’ll come across two warming huts, heat provided via a wood stove. The hut at the trail's end features a gorgeous view of Katahdin on clear days.
“Specifically, areas of the Knife Edge trail, because you get to see just looking up from Pamola over toward South Peak and Baxter Peak," Martin said.
In addition to the views, there's another feature to keep an eye on.
"Also really neat, you get to see tracks," Martin said. "So lynx or maybe a bobcat. Sometimes deer or moose. You can always find paw prints in the snow here."
The conserved, public land is heavily utilized and maintained by the Maine Outdoor Education Program, founded by Butler Conversation. In winter, the program substitutes 17 days of school for outdoor education.
“We usually build the curriculum with the school unless it’s younger students. We just take them out and go skiing," Martin said. "But the curriculum is usually taking them out and going skiing, and learning pertinent Maine state facts, how to become stewards of the land, what 'leave no trace' ethics are, and building sustainable communities.”
These outdoor education days excite students about the outdoors and all the beauty Maine has to offer.
“It’s a nice reminder that you can do anything you want when you grow up. If you want to go teach ski lessons you can go and do that. If you want to paddle along the river every day, you can do that,” Martin said.
Students also have the opportunity to kayak in the spring and mountain bike in the summer over hundreds of acres through the Maine Outdoor Education Program.
"It's just so beautiful and desolate out here. There could be 100 people here, and you'd never know it," Martin said.
Penobscot River Trails is open seven days a week and has a full range of cross-country ski boots, poles, and skis to choose from, along with a couple of snowshoes. While free to the public, donations are encouraged.