General Information & Bathroom Lowdown:
With over 20 kilometers of picturesque snowshoe trails, views of Mount Washington on a clear day, and a Market stocked with yummy snacks and lunch options, Pineland Farms is a great spot to head to for any snowshoe adventure. Tickets for the trails can be purchased at the Market (15 Farm View Drive, New Gloucester, Maine). There are NO rentals available at Pineland Farms.
The hub for many of the cross country ski and snowshoe trails are close to the Market. Plan to park close to it for easy access to the trails. Speaking of parking, while some lockers are available to skiers and snowshoers in the hallway of the Market, the Market is NOT a lodge so…. plan to gear up at your car.
You will find sex-separated bathrooms with a confirmed baby changing station located in the women’s bathroom. This is the only available bathroom near the trails.
Pineland Farms is also a WinterKids Passport location! Children 17 and younger can ski or snowshoe for FREE! And…you are able to use the WinterKids Passport up to TWO times here!
Note: Pineland Farms allows for children 6 and under to ski and snowshoe for free as well!
With ever-changing winter conditions, always check the trail conditions before heading out to see what is open!
WinterKids Ambassador Tip: Be sure to snap a couple of pictures of your adventures and upload them to WinterKids to be in the running to win some free gift cards to businesses like LL Bean and Kittery Trading Post!
Our Adventure:
We headed out to Pineland Farms on a relatively warm Sunday morning and found that everyone else had the same idea! It was great to feel the energy of everyone getting out on their skis and snowshoes, perhaps for the first time of the season!
We checked in with the Market staff who were excited to see us using our WinterKids Passport app. Some of the staff had never seen the app so we were able to walk them through using it.
WinterKids Ambassador Tip: Only redeem your FREE/DISCOUNTED passes when you are at the ticket counter, not beforehand.
We headed back to our car to gear up. I like to bring a couple of towels with me so that we can sit or stand without getting wet from any melted snow. Once we geared up, we headed to the trail hub just across from the Market.
I like to allow for extra time for my daughter to try to get her snowshoes on herself. And…on this outing, she did NOT need any of my help! That was such a cool moment to watch her and share in her excitement of doing it all by herself!
We opted for a moderate 2 mile trek that I could build in a couple of bailout options (see below for my recommended loop). We used one of the bailout options after having to break in a trail ourselves; which was a bit shocking given we were on the trails 5 days after the snow fall.
After a little walk back to our car, we headed into the Market for some yummy lunch. Don’t forget that if you are a Pineland Farm Season Pass holder (for the education barns) you can receive 10% of your Market purchases.
WinterKids Ambassador Tip: Always bring a map! While the snowshoe trails at Pineland Farms are marked, I do wish there were more trail markers periodically on the trails.
Trail Recommendations:
Head out from the Market on Muskrat Hollow and follow this trail until you come to Otter Run. Turn right onto Otter Run. Follow Otter Run as it crosses Valley Farm Road. Continue on Otter Run until it meets up with Wildlife Way. Turn right onto Wildlife Way and make your way back to the Market.
This trail loop will start with gradual descent into the woods with a couple of benches available on the trail courtesy of the being on one of the disc golf courses. Plan for one small hill prior before heading onto Otter Run. Otter Run has a gradual incline as it crosses Valley Farm Road. Once you reach the road, you are about halfway done the incline which is why I built in the bailout options.
Once Otter Run reaches Farm View Drive, you will be on flat and sometimes descending terrain.
Bailout Option #1: When Otter Run crosses Valley Farm Road. The Market parking lot is less than ¼ mile from this location.
Bailout Option #2: When Otter Run runs alongside Farm View Drive. The Market parking lot is about a ¼ mile from this location.
Headed out toward Muskrat Hollow
Cost:
Important things to note about the cost breakdown below:
The WinterKids Passport program costs $40/family. We are planning on doing ten outings this winter, so I divided the cost of the passport by our intended number of outings. This is how I incorporated the cost of the passport below.
I will be using the government mileage rate to determine the cost of each trip.
Also, in full transparency, as a WinterKids Ambassador, I was gifted the Passport so while this “fee” isn’t a true cost to my family, I wanted to represent the truest depiction of an outing cost as possible.
- Snowshoe Tickets: 1 Adult: $12, 1 Child: $0
- Mileage: $11.20
- Snacks brought from Home: $6
- Lunch @ Market: $21
- Passport Program “Fee”: $4
Total Cost: $43.20
For more on our Winter Adventures, as well as all of other adventures, check out my posts on Instagram and Facebook.
Thank you for reading this blog on The Wandering Chickadee!
~Natalie
