PHOTO: BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM
White Grass Ski Tour Center in Davis, WVA (Canaan Valley), is likely the top cross country resort in the region with 50K of maintained trails, but may be too far to go for a ski weekend. Most WVA resorts offer XC skiing.
Closer for Tar Heel skiers is Moses H. Cone Memorial Park with 25m of carriage trails in Blowing Rock. It’s off the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 292 and 295.
PHOTO: GABE DEWITT, HIGHLANDOUTDOORS.COM
The Parkway itself is often mentioned as a good place for XC skiing and snowshoeing when there’s lots of snow. When authorities close sections of the highway because of hazardous driving conditions, it’s often open to skiers. They don’t use salt and chemicals to treat the roadway.
The High Country section of the parkway skirting Grandfather Mountain between Blowing Rock and Linville is favored by local Nordic enthusiasts.
Near the parkway’s southern terminus, the stretch of roadway around Soco Gap also can be skiable and it’s loaded with closeups of the frosty peaks of the Great Smoky and Plott Balsam mountains, visitnc.com reports.
Roan Mountain, a Tennessee state park, has 12 miles of trails for “serious skiers” and is just 45 minutes from Boone and annually averages 100 inches of snow.
Love Cove Trekking in Banner Elk offers guided snowshoe and XC tours.
Elk Knob State Park in Todd, 11 miles north of Boone, is the only Tar Heel state park that allows skiing. They have 1 mile of ungroomed trail for XC or snowshoeing. Bring your own gear. No day use fees are charged.