Despite an active December, January was filled with weekend trips to NYC and DC – and totally devoid of snow. This weekend, we lucked out with not only a snowstorm and a foot of fluffy powder, but also the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA offers free admission on the second Saturday of every month. So we were able to snowshoe and take in some art for free.
On other weekends, deCordova teams up with Eastern Mountain Sports to offer 90-minute snowshoe tours around the park ($15 for members, $25 “not yet members” + $12 for snowshoe rental). If you already have snowshoes, they just ask that you pay the park entrance fee ($14 for adult non-members).
The grounds are beautiful and the sculptures look totally different dusted in snow. We covered the circumference of the park and ran into several other snowshoers and cross-country skiers. We started near Jaume Plensa’s Humming, passed Jim Dine’s Two Big Black Hearts, and cut across the entrance gate with a stop to ponder Jonathan Gitelson’s Are You Here? billboard. (Conclusion: Yes, we were there.) We went up the hill to Linda’s Lawn/the Main Lawn, strolled through Alice’s Garden, and finished taking Waleska’s Way along Sandy Pond. The grounds have a ton of hills which are a blast to slide down, but a bit trickier to climb up. You’ll feel it the next day. We covered the whole park in about an hour.
I was smitten with DeWitt Godfrey’s Lincoln, a series of metal barrels running down the hill of the main lawn. It was flanked by Terence Koh’s Children of the Corn, Totem Pole, which reminded me of a creepier Louise from Bob’s Burgers. But my favorite was Stephanie Cardon’s Beacon. The yellow cables contrasted with the overcast sky were a photographer’s dream and I felt like I should take up photography to do it justice.
A quick Google search shows that there’s an abundance of snowshoe and XC skiing options around Lincoln, including a friend’s recommendation of Sandy Pond (though we couldn’t find a trailhead entrance when we tried). On our bucket list, we’re eyeing these loops, within 2 hours of Boston:
- √ Pat’s Peak (Henniker, NH) – The mile-long loop through the woods kicked our butts in the best way
- Walden Pond
- Mount Misery (Wayland, MA)
- Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary (Lincoln, MA)
- Mount Greylock (Maple Grove, MA)
- Mount Holyoke (Holyoke, MA) – a fall favorite but we’ve yet to go snowshoeing here
- Spruce Hill Trail (Adams, MA)
- Weir Hill Reservation Trail (North Andover, MA)
- Mass Audubon Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary Trail (Lenox, MA)
- Lonesome Lake (Franconia Notch, NH) – Three hours away, but this is where we got married and we go back frequently
- Mount Monadnock (Jaffrey, NH)
- Lake Massabesic (Manchester, NH)
COLLEEN FLYNN 