Mt. Uncanoonuc

Skiing on the Uncanoonuc Mountains in Goffstown began on the south peak, where an incline railway, built in 1905 for summer visitors, started carrying skiers in 1935; on one day that year it took 1,100 to the top. Three trails ran from the south summit, and several more on the north peak had to be climbed on foot. New England Ski History says part of the railway burned in 1941 and never reopened, while NELSAP says it stopped after World War II. Skiers kept hiking up to race, and a USEASA Class C championship was held there on February 12 and 13, 1949. By the 1950s the mountain was largely given up for skiing.^1,2

In 1962 the state parks director, Russell B. Tobey, had Sno-Engineering study a new ski area on the north peak, and on December 19 of that year an advisory commission approved a $500,000 project. The North Mount Uncanoonuc Corporation was registered in January 1963. Trails were cut, snowmaking equipment was bought and a new Mueller double chairlift, planned at 2,000 feet with a 500-foot rise, was delivered. Goffstown apparently kept the area from opening on environmental grounds, and the corporation was dissolved on July 3, 1967. What became of the chairlift is unknown.¹

TodayThe 1960s north-peak trail cuts can still be faintly seen in aerial imagery.¹