Celebrate snow! Experience your parks on cross-country skis and snowshoes!
Please help us keep customers and staff safe! A reservation system is now in place for customers who want 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 and help staff plan for your arrival to Pine Lodge, where one-way traffic and distancing measures will help us quickly process your transaction. Use of rented equipment will be for the reserved block of time. All equipment will be thoroughly disinfected before the equipment is rented again.
Once you have reserved your equipment and have arrived at Pine Lodge at your reserved time, please use the entrance at the north side of the building (near the bathrooms). Once in the building, you will check in and provide your driver’s license as collateral while you ski or snowshoe. Please note: personal items must be secured in your vehicle while enjoying the trails.
After you are finished with the equipment, please return it to the double doors on the south side of the building marked “Please return equipment here.” Enter the building and place the equipment on the rack. Then proceed to the register to retrieve your driver’s license.
Only customers renting equipment will enter Pine Lodge Ski Center; storage areas and concessions are not available as in the past. Outdoor seating will be available near the ski center and the gas fireplace.
Cross-country skis are available for rent for ages 13 and older for $5/hour and ages 12 and younger for $3/hour.
Snowshoes are available for 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.
Northeastern Ohio weather is unpredictable and inconsistent! The reservation system may be turned off for periods of time when snow/cold is not expected; 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 may need to cancel equipment reservations if trail conditions at Chapin Forest Reservation deteriorate. We will send emails and promptly issue refunds to affected rental customers if a cancelation is necessary. If you have questions about your rental reservation, please call 440-256-3810 or email registration@lakemetroparks.com.
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.