Celebrate snow! Experience your parks on cross-country skis and snowshoes!
A reservation system is in place for customers to rent skis or snowshoes. Advanced booking of a date (up to four days in advance) and block of time (one-hour increments) along with prepayment will reserve equipment. Use of rented equipment will be for the reserved block of time.
Once you are at the Pine Lodge Ski Center, you will check in and provide your driver’s license as collateral while you ski or snowshoe.
After you are finished with the equipment, please return it to the Pine Lodge Ski Center.
Cross-country skis are available to rent for ages 13 and older for $5/hour and ages 12 and younger for $3/hour.
Snowshoes are available to rent for ages 13 and older for $3/hour and ages 12 and younger for $1.50/hour.
If you have not reserved equipment before, participated in a program or reserved a shelter with Lake Metroparks, you must set up an online account prior to renting equipment.
Pine Lodge Ski Center hours (when conditions permit): Weekdays: 12 to 8 pm Weekends: 10 am to 8 pm
For up-to-date ski conditions and to find out if Chapin Forest Pine Lodge Ski Center is open, call the Winter Sports Hotline at 440-256-2118 x4178 or check Twitter or Facebook.
Lake Metroparks will continue to groom trails for skiing this winter season at both Chapin Forest Reservation and Girdled Road Reservation (south entrance) as in the past. One mile of trail at Chapin Forest will be illuminated every night from dusk until the park closes (take a hike under the lights if conditions are not optimal for skiing!).
For trail conditions, please call the Winter Sports Hotline at 440-256-2118 x4178 or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We update the sports hotline daily (even hourly as snow conditions change).
To see current, live conditions outside of Pine Lodge, click here.
If your adventure includes cross-country skiing, there are opportunities across the county starting with Chapin Forest Reservation where we rent skis and snowshoes, groom the trails and turn on lights for you at night.
In south/central Lake County we groom nine kilometers at the south entrance of Girdled Road Reservation--some of it flat, but also some challenging terrain. Each park offers a different experience and, with the spotty nature of snowfall, it may be possible to ski in one park while grass is still showing at another.
If you are looking for an adventure that can be dialed back a notch, then perhaps snowshoeing is for you. All it takes is three or four inches of snow and a good pair of boots and you can experience winter at its best. You may want to explore our other parks and trails across Lake County. Some favorites include Indian Point Park (upper lot), the Environmental Learning Center, Pete’s Pond Preserve, Hell Hollow Wilderness Area, Hogback Ridge Park, Big Creek at Liberty Hollow and Skok Meadow at Girdled Road Reservation. Each of these parks has something different to offer from scenic overlooks to shale cliffs coated with ice. Anywhere you hike in the summer is a great place to snowshoe in the winter. Many of the parks in central Lake County benefit from great lake effect snowfalls.
Snowshoes available on a first-come, first-served basis. Call the Nature Center for details at 440-256-1404.