Welcome to the Castlegar Nordic Ski Club
The Castlegar Nordic Ski Club has been providing well maintained cross country ski trails in the Paulson area for the last 50 years. The club operates and maintains the Paulson Cross Country Ski Trails, located 32 km west of Castlegar.
With over 60 km of packed and tracked ski trails ranging from beginner to advanced levels, the club hosts thousands of user-days every season. There are trails for everyone, from a popular 7.5 km circular route from Mud Lake to the Ben Shaw cabin that is ideal for young families and beginners, to numerous longer, more challenging loop trails for intermediate and expert skiers. Several kilometres of untracked trails are available for more advanced backcountry skiers. The Viking Centre and four modern warming huts offer opportunities for a variety of adventures from a short hour-long ski to a full day outing. Our trails are groomed and tracked primarily for classic style skiing but some opportunities exist on the wider packed trails for skate skiing as well.
Since becoming a registered non-profit Society in 1990, club membership has grown greatly, varying year-to-year from 600 to over 1200 members. Members and day-users include individuals and families from Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, Nelson, Grand Forks, Christina Lake, the Slocan Valley, Washington State and many other communities.
Our trails are located 32 km west of Castlegar on Highway #3, or 33 km north of Rossland, just west of the junction of Highway #3 and Highway #3B near Nancy Greene Provincial Park.
Our ski season usually starts by late November and extends until late March. We offer full season memberships as well as day-passes and 5-pass booklets at very affordable, family-friendly rates. See our Membership page for fee rates and registration information.
Use Of Groomed Trails:
Classic Skiing:
The majority of our 60+kms of trails are groomed and set for classic skiing, 6 days a week. Trails are marked as Green, Blue and Black indicating difficulty level. Please familiarize yourself with the trail etiquette posted at our trailheads. Please be aware and considerate of all other recreators enjoying the trails.
Skate Skiing:
We now offer 4.5 kms of dedicated skate skiing trails, as well as wider green trails which are groomed to accommodate skate skiers (See Trail map for Skate Loop and green trails). We ask that skate skiers please be respectful of the set tracks and avoid using any of the single tracked trails in the trail network.
Snowshoeing:
Castlegar Nordic Ski Club now has 2 marked snowshoe trails available for the public at our Mud Lake Trailhead – the Lake Loop Trail, an easy 1.9 km. trail around Mud Lake and the Snowberry Trail, an intermediate 1.5 km. trail gently climbing up to the Snowberry Shelter. (See our Trails & Maps page for a map.) Please do not snowshoe on the ski trails except for designated crossings and bridges. Please stay on the marked trails and use caution near Mud Lake and creeks as these may not be frozen solidly. Snowshoing is currently free but the Club would greatly appreciate a donation ($5 suggested) towards the maintenance of our shelters, outhouses, and other facilities.
Please note that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED within the ski area (except during our annual ‘dog day’ event at the season end).
Thank you!