Carter's Cross-Country Ski Shop & Ski Center — Hotel in Bethel

We recently drove up to the Carter's XC center (3 hours from Southern New Hampshire) in search of deeper snow and a great network of trails. I was also looking for advice on a new set of skis to supplement my performance classic skis upon which I was having a tough time handling in the typical icy, early winter snow conditions with ungroomed or skate ski only trails.

Jes at the Ski Shop helped me over email and the phone to understand the differences between touring and performance classic skis and prepared a pair of Rossignol OT 65 touring skis for me, complete with a hot waxing so they were ready to go.

I absolutely loved the skis, loved the trails around the center, and together with my wife had a great time. We are coming back for more days of XC skiing while our kids ski downhill over at Sunday River. Could not be happier with the advice, the COVID safety and friendliness of the shop, and to have a source of XC skiing with real...

Carter's was fantastic! Overall atmosphere very laidback and friendly.

We stuck to the green trails. There was a nice variety of wooded trail and trails in fields.

The shop - They have a large selection on cross country items. We drove up from Providence to find cross country boots. I tried on five different boots, three different brands and a few different styles - all in my size. The owner was very helpful and nice. She helped me find the perfect boots!

Carter's is dog friendly. People were both skijoring and had dogs off leash. If you have a well behaved dog or like saying hi to other people's dogs, this is a great place. On the other hand, if you don't like paw prints on the trails or off leash dogs, this probably isn't the place for you.

The food was very tasty and perfect break...

My wife and I came up for a lesson, and day of cross country skiing. The staff was very friendly (especially Kona) and patient as we got set up in our rental equipment. Our instructor Anne was fantastic, and really helped some brand new skiers to feel more comfortable on the trails. We stayed on the easier trails, and the grooming was great, with some beautiful views. There was a whole section of intermediate and advanced trails that we didn't make it to, but would love to try our next time out. I would highly recommend Carters to anyone looking to try out cross country skiing for...