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New York

Choose Your Pace: Cross-Country Skiing the Adirondacks

Program No. 23189RJ
Learn about the winter wonderland of the Adirondacks as you explore by snowshoe or cross-country ski! Choose from different activities each day with expert instructors.

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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.

DATES & PRICES

Standard View Deluxe View
Filling Fast!
Jan 28 - Feb 2, 2024
Standard View 1,599
Deluxe View 1,849
Feb 25 - Mar 1, 2024
SOLD OUT
Standard View 1,599
Deluxe View 1,849
Mar 3 - Mar 8, 2024
SOLD OUT
Standard View 1,449
Deluxe View 1,699

DATES & PRICES

Standard View Deluxe View
Filling Fast!
Jan 28 - Feb 2, 2024
Standard View 1,869
Deluxe View 2,119
Feb 25 - Mar 1, 2024
SOLD OUT
Standard View 1,869
Deluxe View 2,119
Mar 3 - Mar 8, 2024
SOLD OUT
Standard View 1,699
Deluxe View 1,969

At a Glance

The Adirondacks of New York offer stunning vistas and dynamic terrain, perfect for an active winter learning adventure with Road Scholar! Join expert instructors each day as you break into groups by activity level to explore 30 miles of groomed cross country ski trails, dedicated snow shoe trails and direct access to marvelous backcountry ski trails at Garnet Hill Lodge. Plus, learn about area wildlife and nature, and delve into stories of the garnet mines that make this area famous. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned skier or snowshoer, you’ll love exploring the winter wonderland of the Adirondacks. Transfer available at added cost.
Activity Level
Outdoor: Choose Your Pace
Choose from cross-country skiing or snowshoeing options each day based on your desired level of challenge, up to eight miles and 1,200-foot elevation gain. For more experienced skiers, backcountry trips will be offered.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Decide among three activities each day based on your desired level of challenge, from introductory cross-country ski lessons to a nighttime snowshoe trek.
  • Rendezvous at the charming Sugar House in a cabin in the woods for your picnic lunch by the wood stove.
  • On some days, choose from other active adventures like snowshoeing and outdoor survival lessons instead of skiing.

General Notes

Program does not include ski rentals. Skis can be rented for the duration of the program from Garnet Hill Lodge upon arrival at the rate of $70. Snow shoes can be rented at $50 for the program duration. Airport transfer available at added cost. Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Featured Expert
All Experts
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Jim Rucker
Jim Rucker and his wife are the owners of Garnet Hill Lodge. Jim is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys running, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and skiing. Whenever the opportunity arises, he is out hiking the trails or canoeing the lakes and rivers of the Adirondack Mountains. Jim has had a home in the Adirondacks for more than 20 years and is thoroughly familiar with the trails, both easy and more challenging, that are accessible from the lodge. He enjoys introducing Road Scholars to these activities.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Jim Rucker
Jim Rucker View biography
Jim Rucker and his wife are the owners of Garnet Hill Lodge. Jim is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys running, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and skiing. Whenever the opportunity arises, he is out hiking the trails or canoeing the lakes and rivers of the Adirondack Mountains. Jim has had a home in the Adirondacks for more than 20 years and is thoroughly familiar with the trails, both easy and more challenging, that are accessible from the lodge. He enjoys introducing Road Scholars to these activities.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
High Peaks: A History of Hiking the Adirondacks from Noah to Neoprene
by Tim Rowland
The unique geological history of the Adirondacks can be found in a pebble. So discovers humorist and outdoorsman Tim Rowland as he chronicles the evolution of hiking in the howling wilderness of the High Peaks. From nineteenth-century guides’ “random scoots” to Melville Dewey’s “Adirondaks Loj” to today’s technologically enhanced weekenders, Rowland, who has climbed the forty-six himself, incorporates personal anecdotes and laugh-out-loud wit to capture the appeal and beauty of this beloved region, all the while reminding us of the importance of keeping these stunning mountains, and their attendant “neat rocks,” “Forever Wild.”
Adirondack Trails with Tales: History Hikes through the Adirondack Park and the Lake George, Lake Champlain and Mohawk Valley Regions
by Russell Dunn and Barbara Delaney
Bike, paddle, bike, or cross-country ski along beautiful trails through sites made famous by Adirondack guides, artists, writers, entrepreneurs, colonial settlers, and combatants in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars. Visit abandoned iron mines and the ruins of tanneries, famous Adirondack great camps and old resorts, lost villages, Native American battlegrounds, and the homestead of John Brown, catalyst for the Civil War. Visit the scene of America s first naval battle and marvel at geological wonders like Indian Pass, Canajoharie Gorge, Chimney Mountain, and the tufa caves of Van Hornesville. Includes detailed directions, maps, photographs, and vintage postcards. Foreword by Joe Martens, President, Open Space Institute. Hikes include: Valcour Island, Coon Mountain, Crown Point: Fort St. Frederic & His Majesty s Fort of Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga, Ironville & Penfield Homestead, Rock Pond, Rogers Rock, Shelving Rock Mountain & Shelving Rock Falls, Prospect Mountain, Fort George and Bloody Pond, Cooper s Cave & Betar Byway, John Brown s Farm, Mt. Jo & Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Adirondac & Indian Pass, East Branch of the Ausable River & Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Santanoni, The Sagamore, Paul Smiths, Hooper Garnet Mine, Chimney Mountain, Kunjamuk Cave, Griffin, Griffin Falls, & Auger Falls, Moss Island, Tufa Caves & Waterfalls of Van Hornesville, Canajoharie Gorge, and Wolf Hollow.
The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness
by Paul Schneider
Paul Schneider's book is a romance, a story of first love between Americans and a thing they call "wilderness." For it was in the Adirondacks that masses of non-Native Americans first learned to cherish the wilderness as a place of recreation and solace. In this lyrical narrative history, the author reveals that the affair between Americans and the Adirondacks was by no means one of love at first sight. And even now, Schneider shows that Americans' relationship with the glorious mountains and rivers of the Adirondacks continues to change. As in every good romance, nothing is as simple as it appears.
The Adirondack Reader
by Adirondack Mountain Club
Writers of the past 400 years reflect the changing attitudes toward wilderness and the development of wild lands in the Adirondack Mountains.
Adirondack Wildlife: A Field Guide
by James M. Ryan
The breathtaking six-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York is comprised of a multiplicity of habitats, including over 2,800 lakes and ponds, more than 30,000 miles of running water, and 46 major mountain peaks. Adirondack Wildlife: A Field Guide is, astonishingly, the first authoritative handbook devoted to the natural history and ecology of the Adirondacks and the Park’s invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The book leads the reader on an intimate journey through the Adirondack Park, beginning with the alpine communities above timberline and descending through the conifer and hardwood forests to the wetlands, streams, and lakes. Ryan’s crisp and authoritative species-by-species accounts of the park’s fauna are fabulously illustrated in color and in black and white. The book is portable and geared towards use in the field. Each chapter concludes with “sources and additional readings;” back matter includes a glossary and species checklists. The park’s hundreds of thousands of residents and millions of visitors will profit immeasurably by having the indispensable Adirondack Wildlife at hand.





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If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
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