Ski Oregon's Backcountry

Groomed Nordic Skiing

Mt. Bachelor Nordic
The 56K trail network consists of a dozen trails at elevations between 5,750 and 6,400 feet. The Nordic Center offers rentals, apparel and gear sales, food and a lodge warmed by a wood-burning stove.

Teacup Lake
Off HWY 35 near the Mt. Hood Meadows ski area, Teacup Lake has 20K of groomed trails that meander through a thick pine forest and the cozy Ray Garey warming hut for shelter.

Anthony Lakes
Located in the powder-rich Elkhorn Mountains west of Baker City, Anthony Lakes has a groomed 30K trail network located adjacent to the full-service alpine ski area.

Walt Haring Sno-park
A mile north of Chemult in southern Central Oregon, it has 15K of groomed trail and plenty of parking.

Virginia Meissner Sno-park
Midway between Bend and Mt. Bachelor on Cascade Lakes Highway, Meissner Sno-park is the starting point for a 40K trail system groomed four times weekly.

Hoodoo
Just off HWY 20 between Eugene and Sisters, the Hoodoo Ski Area has arguably the most beginner-friendly network of cross-country ski trails in the state. The 15K trail system is located close to the area's expansive alpine ski lodge with full services.

Nordic Races

The John Craig Memorial
The granddaddy of all Oregon cross-country ski races, the John Craig celebrates Oregon's legendary skiing mailman Craig and his route over the Cascades. Held at the end of March since 1934, the event offers a 30k race up the eastern portion of the McKenzie Pass to the Dee Wright Memorial at the top of the pass and back. For non-racers, there's a more relaxed commemorative mail carry ski tour up over the pass and down its west side.
tumalolanglauf.com/events

Teacup Classic Races
On January 31, Teacup Lake Nordic will host classic kick-and-glide technique only races at several distances.
teacupnordic.org

Sporthill Crescent Lake Challenge
New to Oregon's cross-country racing schedule, the January 17, 22K race goes over mellow terrain counter-clockwise around Crescent Lake just off HWY 58 near the Willamette Pass Ski area.
crescentlakechallenge.com

Great Nordeen Ski Race
Named in honor of the late Emil Nordeen, a key figure among Central Oregon's Scandinavian logger/ski racers of the early 1900s, the April 3, 30K race starts at Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center eventually winding its way to a finish at Wanoga Sno-park.
mbsef.org

John Day Memorial
In the late '60s and early '70s in a car packed with ski gear, Medford rancher John Day drove across the U.S. promoting the then little-known sport of cross-country skiing. Now he's honored with a 10K classic and 20K freestyle race at Diamond Lake off HWY 138. This year the event will take place on February 14, followed by a celebratory meal at the Diamond Lake Lodge.

Backcountry Touring

Mt. Hood Area
Easily the most accessible backcountry skiing close to an urban area in America, Mt. Hood offers a spectrum of backcountry possibilities from mountain steeps, to glacier skiing, to tours through old-growth forests.

Three Sisters Wilderness
Essentially next door to Mt. Bachelor, the Three Sisters Wilderness offers close, short skin-up turn-down runs on Tumalo Mountain to longer tours and ascents/descents on Broken Hand and Broken Top Crater. Come spring and early summer, skiers head into the Three Sisters (North, Middle and South) accessed near the town of Sisters for big mountain, big glacier skiing.

Willamette Pass
To the north of the pass and the Willamette Pass ski area are endless day-tour possibilities in the vicinity of the Rosary Lakes. Across HWY 58 to the north are tours and ascent/decent outings in the Diamond Peak Wilderness.

Paulina Peak-Newberry National Volcanic Monument
Just south of Bend, the National Monument has plenty of backcountry touring options plus some steep and deep skiing off the summit of Paulina Peak.

Mt. Ashland/Siskiyous
Beyond the boundaries of the Mt. Ashland ski area in southern Oregon lay the vast skiable forests and peaks of the Siskiyou Mountains.

Steens Mountain
In spring, the slopes of 30-mile long Steens Mountain range in the remote southeastern part of the state offer excellent corn snow skiing on slopes that range from easily rolling to 40 degrees steep.