GRAFTON — When Angus Gorman’s daughter, Annie, was a baby, he would cross-country ski with her through the woods.
“I was basically skiing with her all that first winter,” Gorman told me during a break from repairing the trails at Canaan Elementary School, where he grooms trails for and helps coach the long-running cross-country skiing program.
Little did he know that those treks through the woods would turn into the Isinglass Trails, a roughly 10-mile interconnected trail system where people can cross-country ski and snowshoe during the colder months.
I met with Gorman last week in Canaan to find out more about the trail system, which is entering its fourth year. I was intrigued by how Gorman was able to convince private landowners to allow him to groom trails on their property — and then let strangers use those trails.
But before I go into that, I want to return to the Isinglass Trails origin story.
“The way this started is kind of magical,” Gorman said.
Annie was born around Thanksgiving and when she was napping, Gorman would strap her to his torso and go into the woods that surround his Grafton home.
When spring came, the pair continued their walks in the woods. He started to visualize how “this trail could connect to our neighbors” and create winter outdoor recreation opportunities. He started thinking about how he could build it out, and then slowly started to do so.
Gorman is well known in Grafton. He chairs the planning board and is a self-employed arborist. He’s always liked spending time in the woods and wants to make the experience more accessible for others. The name Islinglass comes from a Grafton landmark: The mountain that Ruggles Mine sits on.
Isinglass Trails, which involves multiple private landowners including Gorman himself and the New Hampshire Forest Society, has commercial liability insurance.
“The game has always been to convince people … to point out the laws that protect landowners, and as long as you’re not charging money to use them and as long as you’re not setting malicious traps, the landowner can’t be sued,” Gorman explained.
During the fall, Gorman works with volunteers to cut back brush, remove obstacles blocking trails and generally make sure the trails are ready for winter. He has volunteer days scheduled for the fall, and those interested can sign up for the Isinglass Trails newsletter or email info@isinglasstrails.org to get the details.
Gorman was inspired, in part, by the region’s snowmobile clubs.
“They’re the most impressive and ubiquitous example of private properties being linked to go somewhere on a trail that is for public use,” Gorman said. “It’s really incredible what they do.”
On the Islinglass Trails website, Gorman has three detailed maps that mark the trails and potential loops to take. There’s a key that identifies the difficulty levels of different parts from easy to extreme.
“My trails are a full spectrum of ability level, to the point far beyond what you would ever encounter at a Nordic center in difficulty,” said Gorman, whose excitement was palpable while talking about Isinglass. “And it’s entirely reliant on snow conditions, so there are sections of trail that are so steep that it’s ridiculous, but if you have a foot of fresh snow, you just point it, and you’re going slower than you’d want to go.”
Some sections of the trails — which range from roughly 3½ to 7 feet wide — are good for beginners, while others are steeper. There is no set track or skate skiing.
Typically, the season runs from late November through early March, though if conditions allow it can extend into early April. Gorman described January and February as the “virtually guaranteed season.”
While he’s happy with how things are going for now, if he could make it work with private landowners, he said he could see expanding it in the future.
“I’d love the idea of being able to ski from Grafton Village to Canaan Village, not on the rail trail,” he said.
It costs about $4,000 to maintain the trail network: Around half of it goes toward administrative costs, including insurance, and the other half is for trail maintenance, including fuel and grooming tools. He accepts donations but does not depend on them.
“You could use this trail network for your entire life, all the time, and not give a dime,” Gorman said. “I would be thrilled.”
For more information about Islinglass Trails, including how to volunteer or donate, visit isinglasstrails.org and sign up for the newsletter.
