Baycrest Trails
To get there, coming from Soldotna/Kenai, turn left onto Rogers Loop
just past the Borough Baling Facility but before the Bluff Point Scenic
Look-Out. Go down about 1/8 mile and look for the Trailhead sign on
your left. Coming from Homer, turn right just before the Bluff Point
Look-Out, near the Baycrest Hotel, and go down about 1/4 mile and
look for the sign on your right
- Homestead Loop (5KM)- From the trail head, up the east side
of the loop, this trail takes you across an open meadow, across
Diamond Creek, up through some trees and up Pitzman Hill, where
it eventually lets out into the open just below the Cottonwood
Cabin (private property), and the intersection with the Sunset
Loop. From here it travels west across open terrain to the old
Homestead site (there's a bench there).There are nice views offered
from this point. From this point there's a nice long downhill
down the "seis" trail, across Diamond Creek again where
it turns back east down a long straight-away, till it meets up
again with the main trail to the Trailhead. This trail could be
classified moderate-difficult.
- Raven's Way Loop(4.8)- From the main trailhead, head either
through the woods or on the main trail down a short distance and
turn left down a long straightaway and just after the trail breaks
out into the open, turn left at the intersection for Ravens Way.
This trail heads out through open flat meadows and climbs a short
hill and through some trees before turning back toward a point
where it joins again with the Homestead Loop. This is a fairly
easy loop with great opportunities to work on your technique.
- Headwaters (5KM)- Stay on the Homestead Loop till it meets with
the "4 corners" 4-way intersection with the 1K cut-off.
Turn left and head down through the woods crossing several fun
"dips" (Killer Hill, Sitzmark Hill and Death Valley)
till the trail turns left, crossing Diamond Creek.and back up
through the woods. The trail then follows the creek valley, winding
up and down through the trees, till it comes out at the base of
Pitzman Hill and meets with the Homestead Loop again. This is
a fun trail with a lot of interesting terrain.
- Demonstration Forest Trail ( 2.5KM)- This trail, named for the
piece of land it's located on, heads down the main trail again,
past the 4-way intersection, across Diamond Creek to a junction
with the Homestead Loop. Keep left and follow the loop out through
a large open meadow. Keep left again, (there's a right that goes
"through the woods" to Homestead Loop) and cross-over
a bridge and up through the trees to get back to the trailhead.
- Sunset Loop (4KM)- From the top of the east corner of Homestead
Loop, head up-hill a little to a "Y", and keep right..
.(This description assumes you start from the east side of the
loop.) There are several trails off of this trail that are private,
so just continue to ski up the hill. This is a fairly steady,
fairly difficult climb. Once you reach the top, the trail heads
west crossing several driveways, (again, please respect private
property), before heading down to the left again at the Communications
Site. The trail then heads back east again through some open territory
offering some fantastic views of Kachemak Bay, Mt Augustine, and
Cape Douglas. It winds back up the hill again a little before
going down "Awesome Hill", (this hill if a LOT of fun),
to return to the intersection with the NE corner of Homestead
trail. About half-way across this open area at the top, there
is a branch to the right, called "Far Side", that travels
down the hill and joins up with the NW corner of the Homestead
Loop, at the bench.
*Note: All trail descriptions describe travel from one direction.
Our trails have no particular direction to follow (no arrows). These
descriptions are just to familiarize new skiers with our system.
All distances are from nearest trailhead.
McNeil Trails
These trails consist basically of a 7 1/2K loop starting at the
school and travels a short distance across a meadow before winding
through some trees and heading up a long gradual hill. At the top
of the hill it opens up and offers some fantastic views of Kachemak
Bay. (Sit down on the bench and enjoy the view awhile.) The trail
then heads back down the hill and through the trees, across the
muskeg meadow again, and returns to the school.
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