Cross Balsams Wilderness off The List! My long awaited first visit to Balsams Grand Resort in Dixville Notch New Hampshire is in the blogs! Holiday weekend blackouts on vouchers combined with excellent early season snowfall made Balsams a top prospect for New Years Eve day. Add in no lift lines or crowds on Christmas vacation week and the decision became a total no brainer.

Dixville Notch is way up there. The drive north on Route 3 was arduous coming from central New Hampshire. I can only imagine what that kind of drive is like from the metro Boston area. Never having been north of Lancaster on that side of the state, I was not impressed–excepting an incredible view of North and South Percy Peaks from Route 3.

The Balsams Wilderness ski area is disconnected from the hotel by a quarter of a mile. As such, you never see the hotel nor the notch approaching from the west. Views of the ski area from the approach on Route 26 are excellent as the mountain meanders in and out of view with most trails visible. Balsams features clearly defined top to bottom trails which fall off the summit in a very picturesque way, both on the hill and from a distance.

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