Winter
There is nothing like the quiet of the forest in winter. But, there’s nothing better than your yelps and hoots echoing from the mountains as you play in deep backcountry snow. Or, maybe the best part is warming your feet by the yurt’s wood stove after a great day on the trails. Whatever your snow sliding choice, your winter playground waits for you at Phillips Brook Backcountry Recreation Area.
Winter at Phillips Brook offers winding cross country trails, beautiful backcountry glades and quiet peaks. Mushers, as well, can find a great location to let their teams run. And, miles and miles of snowmobiling trails are all found nearby.
Phillips Brook is famous for its snow and being in a true snowbelt. The base elevation of the upper valley at Phillips Brook is above 2,000 feet which is the same as Pinkham Notch. The South Summit yurt is at 2700’ which is the same as the forest below Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mt. Washington so do treat these trails and lands with respect for the potential for extreme conditions. We usually check with Pinkham Notch and add 4 inches of snow and take 4 degrees off their forecast. When in rains south of the notches it usually snows at Phillips Brook.
Keep in mind, none of the trails at Phillips Brook Backcountry Area are groomed or patrolled, so please be prepared.
Backcountry Skiing
Many magazines including Couloir, Backcountry and Outside have featured the great snow and backcountry skiing at Phillips Brook in their stories. Generally the backcountry trail skiing is on the access routes between yurts. These trails are maintained and kept open with snow machines. They offer intermediate terrain and often excellent turns. From each yurt the access routes plus uncut routes lead to open and recently harvested slopes where the opportunity varies with the depth of the snow. 2007/8 Winter provided excellent skiing off the backsides of both Cow Mountain and South Summit on Millsfield Mountain. There are three strategies for using the yurts to get in your turns.
- The easiest is to stay at a gateway yurt near parking and ski up to the mountains in the morning and ski down at nightfall to your yurt.
- The next easiest and most popular is to use one of the High Yurts as a base camp and haul two or more nights provisions up then ski out and back each day exploring the terrain and getting the best exposure. This is even easier if you hire us to do a gear haul to get all your food, drink, and sleeping bags delivered to the yurt while you enjoy the ski or snowshoe in. This also allows bringing in sleds, snowboards, and alpine skis for more ways to enjoy having a mountain all to yourselves.
- The third, hardest and most fun is to haul your gear from yurt to yurt and enjoy both the challenge of the journey and the different terrain at each High Yurt. Many people like to stay the first night at Little Dummer Pond to make sure everybody makes if there are multiple cars and travel schedules. The next day its off 3.5 miles to Cow Mountain Yurt and a climb to its summit and grabbing the available turns. The next day its off 5 miles to South Summit yurt and two nights at South Summit. This gives a chance to settle in and to not have to pack and haul gear for a day. This lets you get at the terrain off the three mile ridge to North Summit with only day packs.
Cross Country skiing at Phillips Brook is really ski touring in unbroken snow, trail skiing on the yurt access routes, or using the snowmobile trails in the area. There are no groomed or set tracks. The two Dummer ponds offer great ski touring from Little Dummer Pond yurt with the island, otter dens, and brooks to explore. Some enjoy trail skiing to the High Yurts as a destination and chance to see the great views. Others like the snowmobile trails if they tolerate the high speed of some of the riders.
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing allows full access to not only the trails but the entire 39,000 acres. Two special treats are exploring Phillips Brook Gorge and the climbing to the Fire Tower. The old trails at Phillips Brook provide fun trips to the old Long Mountain Yurt site, Trio Ponds, Phillips Pond, and the Devil’s Washbowl. The shorter trips include Cow Mountain Summit and the North Summit along Millsfield Ridge. These trips are not along maintained or even marked trails. Changes in weather, deep or heavy snow, and difficulty finding routes can make off trail snowshoeing very risky and all precautions should be taken for safety and survival.
Dogsledding
Dogsledding has always been a popular sport at Phillips Brook. The yurts are all dog friendly and set up for lining out and turning teams. The many miles of trails we maintain are dog friendly and offer many chances for 3-15 mile runs. A favorite is bringing the dogs for trail running with overnight stays at Little Dummer Pond Yurt where the team can be kept in the truck, with an old timer in the yurt, or mushing to the high yurts and lining out the team with plenty of room at both South Summit and Cow Mountain Yurts. Errol Rapids Yurt offers a unique chance to run on Lake Umbagog on the Mushing Trails of Mahoosuc Mountain Guides when their big dog teams are not using the trails. They must be contacted and their approval obtained prior to use. In soft snow the up hill sections of Cow Mountain can be hard work and there are stream and bridge crossings to make on Bear Brook Trail that require checking the trail or with us prior to use. Contact us if you would like to hire a sled dog guide for a ride or yurt overnight adventure with a great team in the North Woods.
Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling is not allowed by the land owners except on State approved marked and groomed trails. However, Errol Rapids Yurt is nearby the Town of Errol and has direct access to the major interstate trails connecting Errol and Rangeley Maine making this yurt a perfect snowmobiling destination or Base Camp. You can park and unload just off North Mountain Pond Road and walk or ride the short 300’ to the yurt. Contact us for special arrangements if you have ideas for snowmobiling to yurts or long range snowmobiling from our yurts.
