Weston Ski Track

Ah, cross-​country skiing. A humbling sport. You may think you’re relatively graceful and fit, but you’ll soon learn otherwise. In all seriousness, I had a great time at this place. They do a good job shepherding you between all of the stations you need to hit: day pass, rental payment and/​or lessons, choosing boots, choosing skis/​poles. I would allot about half an hour before you want to start skiing or start your lesson if you’re renting so you don’t feel rushed. The staff was very friendly and skilled.
Our teacher, Tom, was great at breaking down the basics. I felt very competent by the end, but still challenged to keep getting better when I went skiing on my own after the lesson. There will still be many beautiful Westonites gliding effortlessly by you while you struggle to regain control of your left foot, which inexplicably keeps drifting away from you, but that’s all part of the process. Tom also had a no-​late-​arrivals policy; I’m not sure if other teachers have this policy, but allowing lots of time before your lesson is a good idea either way.
This can get somewhat expensive, but I highly recommend it!

As a downhill skier for many years, I found it a pretty strange feeling to strap on a pair of XC skis for the first time. So I don’t have much frame of reference against other XC ski places, but I enjoyed going to the Weston Ski Track on a 10-​degree Monday night.
The rentals process was smooth enough. My downhills are longer than most people’s cars, and I’m a big bloke, so I’m convinced that even my long XC skis were a smidgeon short. But they fit fine, and I got the hang of no-​mountain skiing after 20 minutes of looking like a bozo.
Reasonable rates: $ 90-​something dollars for 3 tickets and 3 rentals.
My only quibble was that because we started skiing a little after 7pm, the snow was about as fresh and pure as Lance Armstrong’s urine sample. But again, it was late, and it was groomed well enough to enjoy it.
I think if I was a hardcore, everyday XC skier I’d run out of scenery after a while. But for central MA and especially for someone who’s pretty new to the sport, Weston Ski Track is exactly what I’d hoped.

My husband and I just moved to the area, and with all the snow we have gotten this winter, it seemed like a good time to try skiing. I had never put on a pair of skis, but my husband has some experience. They have lessons with online registration (did not take one, but they had plenty of adults so I wouldn’t have felt like a fool). For the two of us, it was $ 60 for rentals and a day of skiing. We trekked around 7 miles, all on groomers, but they had plenty of places next to the groomers where you could ski on the compacted snow for people who know what they are doing. The main loop was busier as the afternoon wore on, but we did not have any «traffic» issues. The terrain is relatively flat with a few (tiny) climbs.
The next closest places for something like this is requires going to western Mass or NH. This was great for me to try out something new and unfamiliar. There were families teaching their kids, and I saw a few parents pulling sled carriers for really young kids that you can rent there. They have snowshoes if you want to do that. We left a small lunch box with food and drinks in the car that we retrieved so we did not check out the snack bar. Next time I would plan to bring a small backback to carry water and such.

NEW MANAGEMENT FOR ²⁰¹⁵⁄₁₆!
The review below is for the previous management. Starting this season skiing on the Leo J. Martin golf course will be managed by the Mass DCR. I will leave up the 5 stars until I get a chance to ski there this winter, then update as needed.
A change like this can’t be done without major growing pains. After all, the previous management was there for 40 years with mostly the same crew, and they were skiers. Making and grooming snow at our latitude is a ²⁴⁄₇ operation, and it ain’t easy. There are many many questions and concerns about how the DCR will handle it – especially if we don’t have another banner snow season. So we wait and see…
Previous management’s review follows:
When conditions all over New England are crud, Weston not only makes snow, but they are exceptional at grooming whatever snow they have. Watch them at work sometime.
Snowmaking and night skiing aren’t the only things that set them apart. They have good people who give a sh**. They actually lose money some years, but they stick to it. You can ask the owners, they’re often there working. If you live around Boston, you’re lucky to have a place like this.
Don’t expect magic. Boston weather usually alternates between snow, ice, rain. When the weather doesn’t cooperate, conditions will suffer. Learn how snow reports work. For example «fast» means icy. Without natural snow, they can cover about 2K with snow guns. If that’s not enough, you’ll have to drive north.

A reasonably priced and convenient way to enjoy cross country skiing. Very friendly staff.

I’ve been to Weston Ski Track a number of times over the years and it is a great resource to have being so close to the city and where I live personally. The main benefit of this place is convenience. It close and easy to get to off the highway (I-​90 or I-​95). Its also reasonable in terms of price ($ 15 for a trail pass and $ 15 for rental).
The main downside is the lack of varied and expansive terrain. There’s a main section of track with has snowmaking and is generally busy with students and beginners. Its not a bad area but is quite small for skiing for any prolonged period of time unless you enjoy doing laps. The rest of the trails are ok but I definitely enjoy them more than the main loop section. They’re wooded and less busy but often has less ideal conditions due to lack of snow or presence of ice.
Long story short, go here if you want a quick and convenient outing. If you want better terrain, longer trails or more scenery you’ll have to go further out like to Assabett River Refuge, Great Brook or Windblown. And definitely check conditions on their website before heading out.

Nice, easy place to go for a weekend x-​cntry ski.

The Weston ski track is great if you aren’t able to get out of the Boston area and want to XC ski. They have everything you need and a good amount of trails. I recommend the Weston ski track!

Fills the cross-​country niche that Blue Hills (Canton, MA) represents for downhill sports.
Weston Ski Track, built upon Weston’s public golf course during the winter, is ideal for beginner XC skiiers. Admittedly, the mostly flat terrain wasn’t too challenging, even to this novice downhill convert, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to drive two hours to New Hampshire in order to suck at skiing.
On the upside, Weston’s atmosphere is a bit classier and features fewer of the delinquent youths that plague Blue Hills Ski Area, an otherwise excellent place for a beginner snowboarder/​skiier to suck at downhill skiing.
Trail pass is $ 15, and touring ski rentals are $ 15 ($ 18 for skate skis). Conditions are reasonably groomed, with only a few patches of ice/​dirt that are easily avoidable; granted, this has been a pretty good snow year.
Avoid the central area during early afternoon to avoid elementary school field trips, which turn trails into human slalom courses.

I tried this for the first time this winter. I couldn’t walk for two days afterwards but at the time it was really fun. It’s great for kids and they are very helpful with understanding the fine art of cross country ski. As other reviews have noted it’s very local with is great and is seldom crowded. A A plus. Once u get the nerve I will go there again. BTW. women x country skiers are sexy!

This is not my idea of cross country skiing. I’d rather defer and go up to the Franconia Notch area that be amongst a gazillion people. When I went, it was crowded and icy and did not have enough parking unless you want to be shuttled back and forth from a more remote parking area. The skis they gave as a rental-​one of them-​I could not easily step into or out of it and this was very frustrating. We stayed an hour and left. I would not recommend to anyone seeking a peaceful, unpressured (by the hoards behind you) trek in the countryside.

Weston Ski Track gets 3 stars basically because it exists as one of the very few places to cross country ski without driving too far from Boston. The snow is mostly man-​made, and they do a great job of blowing snow whenever they can to keep as many km of trails covered as possible. Compared to other places I ski, grooming is below average (snow is either sugary or icy), but that is likely because they mostly have artificial snow to deal with. The trails can get crowded since there are only 15 kilometers of trail total, but often only 2−5km open when they have to rely on snowmaking, which is much of the season.
Unfortunately, because so much of the season depends on artificial snow and the trails are limited, it’s hard not to feel like a hamster on a wheel after about 40 minutes of skiing. Also, the ski trails are on a golf course, which means the terrain is wide open, and can get very windy and cold. You can stand in the middle and see the entirety of the groomed trails.
I can’t fault WST for the climate they are in and the lack of real snow. They do a great job at providing an option for cross country skiing, where the alternative would be nothing. But I also can’t give above 3 stars because the trails are extremely limited and the skiing just isn’t very good. WST is fine for beginners who want easy terrain and aren’t looking to cover a lot of distance, but for more advanced skiers, it’s pretty much the equivalent of training for a marathon by running for hours around a track.

Beautiful, relaxing snow shoeing :)

My next experience at Weston was a vast improvement over 2010 — in the winter of 2012, they had great snow, great service, and perfectly groomed trails for cross country skiing. My friends and I went out for 3+ hours and still had room for more adventures on Weston’s tracks. This is now a staple of my winter fun!

Ton a fun if you want to get outdoors for a few hours. Great grooming, pretty flat overall but has a few hills that keep it interesting. Great staff and very efficient rental process.

This is way overdue, but I bought a Unilocal deal for this place a couple years ago. It included a cross country ski lesson, ski rentals, and hot cocoa for two. The cocoa was boring, but the important stuff was really good. Our instructor was full of helpful information, and I’m glad I got to experience some form of skiing finally! It’s totally a great place for newbies to start, and they seem to have a nice area to ski around for the not-​as-​new people, as well.

Weston Ski Track makes me wish Boston had harsher winters. When there’s good snow cover this place has a great network of very well groomed ski trails. Of course you’re in suburbia and not the deep woods, but that’s the trade-​off to being 20 minutes from Boston. They do have a limited snow-​making capacity for a subset of the trails, for the frequent periods when the area lacks natural snow.
Be prepared — this place gets very busy on weekends after big snowstorms, so you may want to get here early! Fortunately the trails are extensive enough so that it doesn’t feel too crowded. Last time I went the main parking lot was full, but I appreciated that they let you park on nearby streets and ran shuttle vans to take you to the main lodge. Rental and trail pass are about $ 15 each — their gear seemed well maintained to me and the staff is friendly and helpful about finding you the right sized boots and skis. And they have a decent snack bar, too.

Bravo to WST — Per usual, I insisted on going cross-​country skiing a couple weeks ago. Not that I know how to do it.
Well-​groomed trails, reasonable rentals, a bit hard to get to via public transit but not too bad — take the T to Riverside and cab or trek it the last mile there.
I was really pleased when I looked on the website and read that three weekends in the year they offer free equipment, lessons and trail passes to people who use adaptive ski equipment. That’s a serious investment to the disability community and makes me really quite happy to throw my money at them to let me fall down the hill and get run over by a 4 year old skiing prodigy.

You know, whenever I read news stories about «places to ski around Boston» they never include Weston Ski Track! Which is one reason why I didn’t know about this place until I was spending a weekend up in Vermont and talking to someone about how I was interested in cross-​country skiing, and that person suggested I look them up on the nets.
Sadly it was too late in the season to try them out but I got my chance finally on Winter Trails Day, when I signed up for a lesson. And you know, cross country is really fun. Falling on my butt a few times was not fun, but that was mitigated quite a bit thanks to good instruction from Dave, who took about 6 of us through an hour-​plus introductory class that taught the basics.
What I was really impressed with was that even though it was crazy busy on Winter Trails Day, everybody was friendly, the staff was professional, the skiers all looked happy to be out there and there was none of the «check me out, I’m awesome» schtick that one sees sometimes at downhill ski resorts.
I’ve since purchased a three-​day trail pass with rental and went out again last Friday to take advantage of the 2 feet of snow that fell last week. Had even more fun the second time out. I’m getting the hang of turns and sliding downhill although Mount Weston (the big hill on the snowmaking loop) is not in my immediate future.
The price is another plus point. $ 30 is very cheap compared to a rental & lift ticket at most downhill places. Consider that one could spend that for a movie & popcorn. And the payoff for sitting around with a big bucket of popcorn is a bigger ass. Whereas the payoff for sliding around having fun at Weston Ski Track is being in much better shape.

One of the great things about owning a pair of cross-​country skis is that you can walk out the door on a day like today and go draw lines across a pristine soccer field to your heart’s content. It costs nothing, it’s great exercise, and you get all sorts of nice ice crystals forming in your beard.
But it’s also a lot of work; tromping through the snow, making tracks instead of gliding along them, sometimes you just want to move, and to let someone else do the work of breaking a trail. And that’s why the Weston Ski Track is awesome. Crisp, clean doubletrack, and smooth skating surfaces on gently rolling terrain. Lit up at night. On the way home from work (for me, and probably a lot of people). They rent skis (and sell the rentals at the end of the season). And if you’re really desperate, they’ll even make snow for some of their course.
Even though it’s right at the intersection of 128 and the Pike, it is still peaceful and relaxing, especially at night, when all you see is the glow of the city around you, and occasionally the commuter rail rumbling by.
Sure, it’s not cheap, especially when you compare the trail fees with someplace like Waterville Valley (on a cost per kilometer basis), but the cost of gas more than makes up the difference.
And to offset the exercise, you can hit McDonald’s right after you get on 128, too. Not that i’ve ever done that.