Winter trail systems offers free cross-country skiing for all ages, on a wide double track
By Tom French
The James C Frenette Sr. Recreational Trails at the Tupper Lake Golf Club are decidedly not your typical golf-course skiing.
The golf course opened in 1932. It was designed by Donald J. Ross, who apprenticed at Scotland’s St. Andrew’s in the late 19th century. Ross designed roughly 400 courses in the United States and Canada including in Bolton Landing, Glens Falls, Thendara, Schroon Lake, and Lake Pleasant. Many of his courses are used for PGA tournaments. The 18 holes at Tupper reflect Ross’s trademark “turtleback” greens with “fall-away slopes” that roll balls away from the hole.
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Frenette, for whom the trails are named, recently turned 96. According to volunteer groomer Eric Lanthier, the golf course was first groomed in the 1960s when Frenette was a cross-country ski coach for the high school. In 2008, grooming came back using a bedspring and chains towed behind a snowmobile formerly belonging to the Big Tupper Ski area. Moving beyond the links, volunteers cut trails into the woods with assistance from town and village crews who utilized heavy equipment to remove boulders and logs.
The Frenette trails today
The network has grown over the years, especially in the last decade when Jim Frenette reached out to John Gillis for a wrench. Gillis, an avid skier, was so taken by the idea of grooming that he helped organize a team of volunteers who now groom most of the 5 miles wide enough for two sets of tracks, a key luxury if you like to ski and chat at the same time.
Other improvements since COVID include a groomed fat bike trail, almost 2.5 miles of lit trails open every night when conditions allow, a warming hut in the pro shop on weekends, and high-quality signs on metal pedestals at almost every junction. The network is dog-friendly, though owners are encouraged to “pick up after your dog and bring a leash, just in case.” Use of the trails is free, though donations to help cover costs are appreciated. Envelopes can be found in the trail register
I first skied the trail system with my friends, Doug and Susan Miller. I was so enamored that I dragged my daughter, also an avid winter sports enthusiast, so she could experience the “Little Logger.” This 3.5-mile excursion, in the shape of a dumbbell, actually encompasses three trails with four other exploration opportunities.
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Photo by Tom French.
Trying out the trails
Emma and I begin at the parking area for the golf course, which is along the old road to the Big Tupper Ski Area. You can’t miss it. The warming hut/pro shop is on the right. They were serving hot chocolate on the Saturday we visited. A sign-in kiosk can be seen where the golf course trail enters the woods. Despite its name, the entire loop is mostly in the trees. We steered left at the first junction, just a few yards past the kiosk, the shortest route to the Little Logger.
Related reading: Grassroots trails grow in Tupper Lake
The trail rolls gently down and up before passing two junctions to the Hull’s Brook Trail – a .75-mile out-and-back that descends more than 70 feet before the turn-around. Gillis warns that it “isn’t for the faint of heart.” My buddy Doug confirmed that as well.
After skirting the golf course and gently ascending for about a half-mile, we turned left onto the Cranberry Pond Trail. It quickly crosses a small brook on one of several wide bridges in the network then winds to the shoreline of Cranberry Pond. Labeled as the “Tupper Lake Reservoir” on official USGS topography maps, the lake is used by the golf course for irrigation and was going to be a water source for snowmaking on Big Tupper before it closed for the first time in 1999.
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At the next junction (No. 3), we veered along the shore. An opening in the trees allows an unobstructed view of the old ski area along with a sign announcing the dates of its birth and potential resurrection.
Little Logger
At Junction 4, we reached the Little Logger, and it was decision time. The most gradual way to enjoy the loop is straight, but unless plenty of snow has fallen, wet spots may be encountered before the trail ascends away from the pond. We had been warned, so we swung left and herringboned up the hill. Junction 5 was only 150 feet further. Look for the Bearclaw Beechnut. It’s clearly marked with a sign. We turned right, up the hill. A left returns to the golf course.
Our climb continued over two rises before settling into Junction 6 where two trails to the right (Skidder Ridge and Skidder) cut back to Little Logger above the low-lying sections. The intersection can be confusing because of all the options. We took the high road (Skidder). The two trails converge in a 10th of a mile then intersect with the Little Logger at Junction 7 in less than 500 feet.
The high point is to the left, about 200 feet above the golf course. It parallels Ski Tow Road for the last 100 yards. Those who used to ski Big Tupper will recognize the turn. An ungroomed spur leads to the old ski area at Junction 9. Little Logger turns almost 180 degrees, past an old logging road that reaches further up Mount Morris. The area was harvested for timber at some point in its past.
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The next quarter mile is a beautifully gradual, straight, downhill to Sign 8. Not really a junction, tracks did blaze off onto another logging road to the northeast. Little Logger turns northwest, down slightly before climbing back to Junction 6 for the start of a long (and sometimes steep) downhill. Stay to the right at Junction Five. Stop and check out the claw marks if you haven’t already.
This downhill return is officially another leg of the Cranberry Pond loop. The trail descends nicely to the shores of Cranberry Pond and Junction 3. Emma and I turned right, backtracking to the golf course where we turned left to complete the loop around the links.
Upcoming events
We passed the fire pit, site of events such as February’s BrewSki. This year’s 10th anniversary will feature over a dozen micro-breweries from throughout the Adirondacks and North Country. Tickets for the BrewSki are limited, and be sure to bring a designated driver. They can pre-occupy themselves with a ski or snowshoe along Little Logger while you sample the suds. Other events include the Adk Tour de Ski and Empire State Winter Games Winter Bike & Sprint Triathlon. Sledding is also a regular activity on the groomed Hole 10.
We paralleled the shore of Cranberry Pond again before turning into some woods adjacent to Ski Tow Road. The trail eventually crosses the driving range and Hole 4, passing the tee box for Hole 9 before dipping into some woods back to the kiosk.
Unfortunately, my 20-year old NNN bindings finally gave out. One wouldn’t release my boot. Fortunately, we were in the parking lot, so I only had to hop from the rear of the car to the driver’s seat after leaving my boot on the ski. I was able to perch my stockinged foot above the puddles in the all-weather mat for most of the way home.
Top photo: The 1.38-mile Golf Course Trail skirts the nearly 100-year-old Tupper Lake Golf Club, though the trail is mostly in the woods. The closed Big Tupper Ski area can be seen in the distance. Photo by Tom French.
Great story. Had some great ski races on these trails back in the day. Was he still coaching in the 80’s? I remember a Frenette (of course Tupper has has/had many!) who coached and drove the bus for the ski team? Bob Birk coached and drove the bus for Lake Placid. These guys could do it all.