The End of Great Brook Skiing?
The future of DCR’s cross-country ski concession at Great Brook Farm State Park is threatened by a loss of parking capacity. A recent redesign of the inner parking lot has reduced its previous capacity by nearly 50% with a loss of about 90 spaces. The outer lot, a mowed field, increasingly suffers from warmer winters and poor drainage, made worse by runoff from the inner lot’s new asphalt. As a concessionaire, I have urged DCR for 10 years to improve parking conditions in the outer lot but no progress has been observed. Now the inner lot, the best part of the parking facility, has been drastically reduced and actually makes the original flooding problem worse.
Great Brook Ski Touring Center’s season ranks among the shortest of any commercial Nordic center in New England, and the business has survived 43 years because its abundant parking allowed high visitation. Without it, I am certain that the business will be unmanageable.
The ski concession deserves a viable future as groomed ski trails in southern New England are scarce, public demand for them steadily increases, and over 2,000 skiers have come to Great Brook on a single day. The ski concession is a unique and highly valued public resource that is fragile and perhaps irreplaceable. Why do skiers face this decline in parking capacity?
The current contract for the ski concession to operate at the park will expire at the end of the 2026 ski season. If adequate parking capacity cannot be ensured to provide a means of operating then it is unlikely that I will seek a new contract, and liquidation of the business would begin next winter.
If you share concern for a viable future for Great Brook’s ski concession, now is the time to express support for urgent improvements to the outer lot to provide reliable parking in winter. Please contact your state representative and Carlisle’s state representative Simon Cataldo’s office (simon.cataldo@mahouse.gov or 617-722-2582). Thank you!
Stuart Johnstone
Great Brook Farm Ski Touring Center, Inc.
