Pine Lodge Ski Center

Really great and highly-​recommended place with cross-​country ski trails, rentals, and snow shoeing.
Cross-​country skis are only $ 5/​hour or $ 15 for the full day.
They have both class and skate skies available.
Snowshoes are $ 3/​hour or $ 12/​day. Feel free to bring your own gear too.
They have about 6 miles of groomed beginner and intermediate trails. Check out the Scenic Overlook on the Lucky Stone Loop Trail. They also have evening skiing where some of the trails are lighted. Call for trail conditions or daily updates.
The Lodge Center also provides a variety of hot drinks and snacks for very affordable prices ($.50 for bag of sun chips or a cup of hot chocolate). There’s a hot stove indoors and a big fire outside too to relax and hang out near.
Can’t wait to hit the trails here again!

Now with all this Lake Effect snow the Cleveland area gets during the winter, I was hoping to find some pretty good cross-​country skiing close to the city. So I headed out to the Chapin Forest Reservation before Christmas for some early season XC. Quick and easy to get to from the city, Pine Lodge is open noon to 9 M-​F and 9 – 9 on the weekends. They have lots of rentals at the lodge with ample numbers of classic (waxless) skis and a limited number of skate skis available. Rentals for adults are very reasonable at $ 5 an hour or $ 15 for the entire day. You can even take your rented skis out of Chapin forest to ski other groomed areas in the Lake Metropark system. If your outdoor fun leans more towards snowshoeing, you can rent them here also ($ 3 an hour and $ 12 for the day). All the rental prices are for adults and can be found on their website, kids equipment is cheaper.
The Pine lodge itself is well appointed and cozy, with a nice wood burning stove sitting in the corner that you can warm up next to with some hot chocolate and snacks available for purchase after your day of skiing. And always an extra bonus, restrooms are clean!
Since I came out here fairly early in the season, the snow hadn’t accumulated enough for them to track it, but the trails were well groomed (they groom every day) with only a few patchy spots. As the season progresses with more snow, these trails will only get better. I stayed on the Chapin Forest Reservation as they had 6 miles of open trails and that was plenty for my first time out in the season! Went with the classic skis but if they don’t have it tracked I would probably recommened the skate skis to those of you who are comfortable with them.
There is a wide variety of trails suitable for everyone from beginners to more advanced skiiers. I saw a number of young children out here for lessons (check the Metroparks website for offerings) and they were having an absolute blast on just the flat surfaces! Don’t feel afraid to come out to the middle of the forest by yourself, there were a lot of people out on the trails and they have a lighted 1 mile loop for evening skiing open until 9 PM. If you’ve got a dog that likes to pull, bring them out here for some skijoring! I saw one guy who had harnessed up two of his dogs flying around the expert trails the evening I was there. Also, since Chapin Forest is of a slightly higher elevation than the city, there are a couple breathtaking vantage points on the trail where you can see almost all of Cleveland.
If you’re looking for a quiet night out in the woods listening to the sounds of nature as you glide silently along the snowy trails, head on out here… you won’t be dissapointed. And for those of you interested in picking up a new winter sport that is lower impact than downhill skiing, go out and sign up for a lesson!