A ski loop with a view
The Hanging Spear Falls loop is probably the best backcountry ski tour in the Adirondacks that no one knows about. It’s surprising that it’s not on more cross-country skiing lists, because it integrates some of the best of the southern High Peaks: lots of views of mountains, a ski across the dramatic Flowed Lands, and an exciting ski out along the Calamity Brook Trail.
Of course, it’s not for everyone. To get to Flowed Lands—always counterclockwise on this loop—you’ll face several miles of steep hill, requiring climbing skins or snowshoes. And if you don’t have two cars, you’ll have to walk an additional mile along the road back to your car, because it ends at a different trailhead from where it begins.
I first got the idea from my friend Jim Close, who joined me on our first trip here more than a decade ago. I went
