Skiing the trails of Fuller Farm in Scarborough was a lot of fun for us this weekend. But I'd caution beginner skiers to stay away from the trails leading to the river and stick to the one that loops along the treeline around the open field.
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<span class=caption>We took the path of packed down snow over the bridge and onto the trail through the woods. </span>
When we came to this trail marker, we opted to turn and check out the trails near the river.
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It was more of a challenge than expected because we had to duck under some branches while passing over deep footprint holes and making a turn (which is tricky on xc skis) going downhill. I placed good odds we'd all land on our butt before we made it to the bottom.
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I was right.
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We followed the trail along more level terrain before we came upon another, more steep hill. L. opted to make her own tracks while G. took the uneven footpath that she half skied, half slid on her butt down to the bottom.
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It was a struggle to get back up this steep hill in wet, melting snow so L. took off her skis to make the climb.
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G. came up with her own way to manage the uphill climb. We turned it into a follow the leader game back to the trail near the open field.
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And continued the game for a while.
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The girls really enjoyed making their own tracks through the deep snow for a back-country skiing experience, something we haven't done much of previously. The open hills around the field did have some snowmobile tracks that made going downhill easy and fast.
<B>Fuller Farm trail and G.'s 'special way' for climbing hills</b>
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<a name=review> </a>
<B>TRAIL REVIEW</b>
<B>Trail:</b> Fuller Farm, Scarborough
<B>Length:</b> 220 acres of open field and wood trails. There are marked trails through the woods.
<B>Grooming:</B> No, this is back country skiing with only a few snowmobile trails through the fields (no snowmobiles are permitted on the wooded trails).
Trail Map: <a href=http://www.scarborough.me.us/townhall/commserv/trails/maps.html>available here</a>
<B>Parking:</B> Yes.
<B>Fee:</B> None.
<B>Equipment Rentals:</B> None.
<B>Bathroom:</B> No
<B>Ski Level:</b> all levels
<B>Dog-friendly:</B> Yes, we made lots of new furry friends on the trails the day we visited.
<B>Kid-friendly factor:</b> GOOD
Making your own tracks through the open field was fun for the kids. The trails leading through the woods are marked but paths leading to the river (on the right off the main trail) has steep hills and would be a challenge for beginner skiers.
<B>Kid Rating:</b> Both girls gave this trail 4 stars (on a scale of 1-the worst to 5-the best).
G: I liked they had lots of hills and I liked climbing up the hill in my own special way. I liked skiing through the woods and the main trail was fun and easy. I liked there weren't any snowmobiles on the trails in the woods.
L.: I liked making my own tracks in the snow and I liked going down the smaller hills in the field.
<B>Photos from the trail:</b>
<span class=seen><a href=http://seen.mainetoday.com/album.html?alb=28246>On the trail at Fuller Farm</a></span>
<B>Current Trail Conditions: </b>
<span class=snow><a href=http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/snowconditions/indexXC.html>Snow reports for cross country ski trails in Maine</a></span>
<b>Directions:</b>
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And we were clearly not the only family to have decided it was necessary to get out and enjoy the unexpected snow.
The kids loved making the first ski tracks through the hills at the farm and spent a lot of time skiing down them. There is a challenge to skiing dowhill on cross country skis on ungroomed trails (skiing downhill was much easier yesterday) and keeping your balance. You never know what rut under the snow is going to knock you down.
After a while the kids and their friends got creative with their skiing style thinking it was fun to balance themselves going downhill while squating. If you've ever tried this you'll know it's probably a little harder than standing up.
Skiing down the hill at Fuller Farm
The groomed trail conditions were great the day we visited despite the lack of snow recently.
There is a warming hut about 1/4 mile into the trail that the girls particularly enjoyed. G. wrote in the guestbook while L. worked on the 1,000 piece puzzle. It was a cozy spot with the wood burning stove and it was difficult to drag the kids away from it (we made three different stops to the hut while exploring the looping trail system).
The trail map was easy to follow with markers posted on trees at every intersection.
There were steeper points on the hills that some of my family members opted to side-step down.
While the ones with a need for speed practiced their 'pizza pie' downhill instead.
A second outhouse further in to the trail system was a great convenience.
And the chairs and picnic table nearby prompted us to enjoy a break for lunch. Of course the kids opted to sit in the snow because well, they're kids and sitting in the snow to eat lunch is fun. For the adults, the chairs were a welcomed treat.
If your family has been cross country skiing for a couple of years and has good control on hills, you'll love these trails. If you don't have that level of skill, get out your snowshoes (or borrow some). These trails are really nice and kids will love the clubhouse-feel of the warming hut. The short distance (although it is uphill) to the hut will keep the kids motivated to find it while enjoying a nice trek through the woods.
Skiing down the hills
And G. has been working at a local farm with a 6-month old heifer she's named Sparkles for her new 4-H project this year. She's been to the farm once a week since early November and really enjoying being around the larger animals and working hard to halter-train Sparkles.
And although G. didn't help clean the chicken coop this week, she did not escape poop patrol. It was just a different kind.
But there were a few good places for some fast double-poling on the icy-snow tracks that we enjoyed.
We're hoping the 'few snow showers' forecast this week will drop enough new white stuff to improve the skiing conditions without too much trouble for our non-winter sports friends (who are finding us annoying right now ;).
For me, I'd much rather have snow than sub-zero temperatures ...
It was more of a challenge than expected because we had to duck under some branches while passing over deep footprint holes and making a turn (which is tricky on xc skis) going downhill. I placed good odds we'd all land on our butt before we made it to the bottom.
I was right.
We followed the trail along more level terrain before we came upon another, more steep hill. L. opted to make her own tracks while G. took the uneven footpath that she half skied, half slid on her butt down to the bottom.
It was a struggle to get back up this steep hill in wet, melting snow so L. took off her skis to make the climb.
G. came up with her own way to manage the uphill climb. We turned it into a follow the leader game back to the trail near the open field.
And continued the game for a while.
The girls really enjoyed making their own tracks through the deep snow for a back-country skiing experience, something we haven't done much of previously. The open hills around the field did have some snowmobile tracks that made going downhill easy and fast.
Fuller Farm trail and G.'s 'special way' for climbing hills