Mohawk Mountain

I came to Mohawk Mountain expecting a great snowboard adventure. To put my skills in perspective, I’ve been to 6 different mountains all through Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New York. I eagerly paid my lift ticket for myself and my friend and noticed that my wallet was much lighter than when I began. Each lift ticket was 60 dollars this weekend, not including tax. I figured that would be, the slopes should more than make up for it.
It might the warm weather this Winter but the parking lot is the worst I’ve ever seen. There is no paving and the entire area looks like a giant mud meteor crashed into the ground. I imagine if it is particularly snowy or colder in the season, that we might not even be able to enter the «parking lot.»
Well, I went up the first green trail, Nutmeg trail, and it was completely disappointing. There were no turns to be had and there wasn’t even enough slope to go down the entire length of the trail without walking half of it.
Since the green level trails were so tame, I went to the intermediate blue level. I went down the slopes and it was a decent pace and speed. The problem was, the differences between the two trails was way too disparate. In this mountain, you’re either the most beginner of beginners, or advanced, there is really no room for intermediate level skiiers and snowboarders.
Worst yet, the service was terrible. I brought 2 beginner friends along and the ski patrol were not helpful at all. I got separated from both of them and asked the ski patrol for help. They eventually saw both of them but neglected to inform me of that. So I spent an extra half hour — an hour still trying to find them. It ended up detracting from my experience, because the ski patrol didn’t update me.
If that were the only service fail, then I would have given a higher mark. But, when trying to get my friend’s shoes from the ski boot rental area, it took 6 tries before they returned my shoes to my friend. For this reason, I always keep my own gear.
In summary
–Pricey
–Muddy parking
–Poor service
–Level of slopes either too easy or too hard

I learned to ski here when I was a child. So it makes sense to bring my child here to learn how to ski.
We were here last year and last week. Each time I signed her up for ski lessons, which last about 2hrs. There are lots of different instructors and she clearly does better with some of the younger instructors. One of the older men instructors (heavy-​set with beard) gave her a lesson last year and he was so mean she said she never wanted to ski again. Fortunately, I convinced her to come back the next day and do another lesson. Which she did and loved the younger female instructors. My daughter, then asked if we can stay longer and ski for more days. So the instructor really is important in fostering young skiiers.
This year it was the coldest I have ever seen in CT, dipping down to -15 °F with 25MPH winds. Clearly not ideal conditions for skiing. I called to cancel our ski rentals and lessons due to the weather (on the day of our reservation). The office staff there was very accommodating and credited me the money back onto Mohawk Money card. Which worked perfectly, because we were able to come the next day when it was +15 °F and use the card to do our skiing. Really great customer service and made the whole process very easy.
My daughter doesn’t want to ski anywhere else. So I guess we will be coming back again next year.

One of the best places in Conneticut to ride. Pre season trails are always maintained nicely. Day time to dusk is the best ride times. Once it’s dark it gets icy and trails become a little more advanced based on that condition. The lifts are always moving at a nice pace, however some benches at the top like I’ve seen at other ski areas would be much appreciated. The lodge went through some major renovations and I’m curious to see if the adaptions were made large enough. The new heated outside deck really is a nice touch, they just need to serve some food and drinks out there and it’s all set. If you’re military you ride for free.

Limited amount of trails but good conditions (snowmaking helps eliminate poor conditions). The trails are well marked and freshly groomed. Lifts are slow but to be expected at a «mountain» of this size. Overall great place to learn to ski/​snowboard. If you’re an experienced skier you might be a little bored on the trails.

A Great local mountain with a great team of individuals making winters in NWCT a whole lot more enjoyable.

I love this mountain!!! It is a terrific family resort and has an old school feel –I find it to be amazingly friendly and just a great way to spend a winters day outside with the kids… But it’s the Ski School that sets this place high in my esteem! my young daughter was a yeti this year (weekend ski club) and by the end of her instruction was ripping the black diamonds (and ripping them really well!) the instructors are amazing, patient, fun… My son was snowboarding with a really great guy — he learned a ton of tricks and carves and had a blast!, This was a kid that didn’t even want to sign up for snowboarding club (because he already knew everything;)and he LOVED IT!!! We’ve done snow schools up in VT and I have to say, Mohawk snow school blows them out of the water! Seriously. If you have kids. Especially young ones. Go here. all of the lift operators are also great with the young ones which helps a lot with the little learners lift confidence. I think Mohawk is a small mountain with a great vibe, and lots of family fun (sorry party people– no Bar)
great job Mohawk! Keep it up and well be seeing you next year!
Oh. And ski shop has most things you may need, a very nice selection of clothes, gloves helmets goggles etc… I bought a lot in there this year! Nice, nice helpful people.

The mountain itself is decent for a quick instate get away. Limited amount of trails but good conditions. After 10+ years of skiing without any prior incidents, it was at Mohawk that my snowboard got stolen. I just happend to be the lucky luck of about a dozen boards that were laid out. I only have myself to blame for not locking it up but after speaking to employees and frequent customers i found out it happens pretty often at Mohawk. You’d figure that they would take action by setting up some traps or atleast clearing the trees around the racks but it doesn’t seem like they are that bothered. Anyways, skiiers/​boarders be aware!

Awesome ski experience so close to home!
Nice wide open trails, quick lifts and great staff. Just challenging enough and all at a great value.
Particularly like the restaurant up on the slope. Staff kept it open later for us — thank you.
Best ski experience of all surrounding mountains.

I recently visited Mohawk for the first time with my daughter. We skied on a cold but sunny day mid week. We had a great time!
We were happy to find almost all the lifts open and despite the lack of natural snow, most of their trails were open and groomed. Their snow making and grooming are top notch and there is terrain for all levels.
There is a magic carpet (surface lift) for beginners as well as a dedicated triple lift (Nutmeg) that services a trail just for beginners who graduate off the carpet.
We warmed up my going to the lift to the far right which services several long green cruisers. The trail are well marked and groomed and we enjoyed a few runs on Deer Run, Victors and Pine. We then moved over one lift which took us to the top so we could hit some of the intermediate terrain (Arrowhead and Mohawk) which were great.
Later we skied over to Arrowhead triple chair to access some of the Black diamond terrain (real nice trails, not too steep) and skied Timber and Wildwood. There are great views from the top of the chairlift looking west toward the Catskill Mountains in the distance. The lodge is a bit dated, but is warm and has the amenities you need for a day of skiing.
Mohawk is a nice place to ski in a friendly and charming New England atmosphere.

I have to start off with the fact that we have season’s passes for Stowe, so we are not easily impressed — the bar is pretty high.
I went here last year and it was great. I was in between skis and the kids working in their rental department were UNREAL, awesome, top notch. They engaged the customers and explained exactly what an inexperienced skier would need to know how to make sure their boots fit properly and their dins were set correctly on their bindings. Both myself and my husband were very impressed. AND, all the equipment was pretty, sparkly and new (no disgusting 500 year old rentals here LOL),
The lift operators seemed engaging and friendly. The ski school staff seemed to be on top of things, and the kids seemed to be enjoying their lessons.
The only thing Mohawk was missing was a nice lodge with a bar/​restaurant (not just a cafeteria), but Litchfield is so close by that it really wasn’t a big deal as there are tons of great places to stop on the way home.
I hope to go back very soon. As I said (even though I don’t need to use rentals again except if I forget something) their staff and equipment was really great. I hope it hasn’t changed much since last year, unless the change includes a renovated clubhouse and a new restaurant/​bar.

The two stars are for the snow and the ski shop– the rest of the place lacks luster-where’s the spark there? No music-​no smiles– nothing — coming from Northern California I can only ask if the person running the place has any idea how a real mountain is run. Do yourself a favor — go online and view other places and get that spark for this historical and deteriorating mountain that has many more generations to come and enjoy. Sad to see the place so sad — literally

This is a homey mountain, and thats a good thing!
If you want gnarly, go up north to Wildcat. But if you just want to carve fresh snow surrounded by gorgeous New England vistas without crazy lift lines, come to Mohawk, especially on a weekday.
Its downright serene. The people are wonderful. The mountain is charming. The vertical isn’t that high, but it has challenging runs. Plus, its just so easy to ski right back onto the lift (no lines at night and on weekdays!) so you never have to stop skiing. By far, the best bang for your buck in new england.

Mohawk Mountain holds a very dear place in my heart. It wasn’t the first place I skied but it is where I truly learned to ski. It’s where I spent many winter weekends with my friends and family as a teenager. We all worked at the owner’s house in the summertime and during the wintertime he would give us complementary lift tickets. Needless to say we got very familiar with Mohawk Mountain. So yes, I admit I’m biased towards the mountain.
But biasness aside and based on facts I still believe it’s the best mountain in Connecticut. I’ve skied all the other CT mountains countless times and none of them match Mohawk in size and variety. I feel that Mohawk comes the closest to any mountain in Vermont… it just doesn’t have the vertical or overall size like the giants up north.
Some of my favorite runs are the shorter ones near the top of the mountain, such as upper Wildwood and Pinnacle. The Chute can be an interesting challenge when there’s snow on it.
One thing that could use an improvement is the base lodge. It needed a renovation when I was a teenager and it definitely needs one now. Maybe it’s tolerable on the weekdays but it becomes overly crowded, stuffy, and uncomfortable on the weekends. I guess that’s one incentive to keep skiing outdoors and less of an incentive to sit around indoors :-)
One word of advice with regarding rental equipment. Instead of renting skis etc from the base lodge, try renting that stuff from your local ski shop. You can usually rent them the night before, the gear is usually better, and the experience will be more pleasant.
Lastly some interesting trivia… believe it or not Mohawk Mountain was a true pioneer mountain when it opened in the late 1940’s. It was one of the first mountains in the country to offer lift service and its founder, Walt Schoenknecht, was essentially the father of modern snowmaking. So people can laugh at its small size and the fact that it’s located in CT, but in many skiing annals it actually has serious street cred. So when you’re skiing here you’re skiing a bit of history.

Gets four stars purely for the customer service. I called a week prior to ask about the parent-​tot classes and was told that they were indeed scheduled Presidents Day. When I arrived I found out that was not the case. This was kind of a big deal since the main reason I came to Mohawk and stayed overnight was to take this class with my 4yo son. When I brought this up to the manager at the ski school, she couldn’t have been more accomodating. Set us up with a private lesson on the spot. No questions asked (I really had no proof of the mix up other than my word). Huge kudos to the Mohawk Ski school for this one. My son had a great time, his first time on the slopes.
Word of warning, this was a crowded weekend as it was the first weekend of winter school break. Rental lines looked brutal (I had rented gear ahead of time). Also the lodge/​café was incredibly crowded. I will return but I’ll try to avoid peak weekends.
Can’t really review the mountain but it seems to be a very family focused business model. Lots of families with small children taking lessons. Also I’d say the ration was 4:1 skiers.

Big price for small mountain. Expect over two hour rental wait time at peak times… Brutally painful. However, convenient for ct and some NY residents.

Can not say enough good things about Mohawk. Great feel, great employees, a decent hill for CT, and the 4^th grade program is a great deal! I lost a glove insert and they found it for me the next week-​could not have been a nicer experience.
The lodge is a little dated and they need a no-​bags and no-​table-​saving policy, but it is never a long wait to get up the hill.

Not very crowded and so a good place to learn to ski or board. Basically agree with the other reviews; even though they’re dated they’re still accurate. Only thing to add is that it took about an hour to get rentals, a wait you can partially avoid by signing up for an express rental on their website at least 48 hrs before you want your gear.

I went to Mohawk Mountain for a day of boarding and all in all it was a good place, coming from a new boarder.
It was small mountain with about five slopes which are split amongst easy to difficult. I went on a Saturday at about 10AM and the place wasn’t all that busy, even with them offering a free rental /​lesson day.
While I was there, I took a private lesson and instructor and was very friendly, knowledgeable, and generally into helping you learn. The lesson lasted for an hour and at the end I was feeling good about my skillz… The private lesson along with an all day ticket cost about $ 125 (w/​o rental equipment).
The mountain has its own mini lodge which is typical where you can get breakfast /​lunch or even just warm up, which was a positive.
All in all, I would recommend this mountain to anyone who is new to skiing or boarding and wants to practice and hone their skills. I would think though for an experienced skier or boarder, this place would not really excite you. Either way, coming from Long Island, Mohawk Mountain makes for a nice one day trip.
Also, a perk coming from Long Island was the only bridge you need to cross is the Throgs Neck, instead of the going to Poconos where you need to cross the George Washington and get stuck in a traffic nightmare.
Give it a shot!!!

I would echo the first reviewer’s comments on this ski resort. (not so much of a ski resort or ski village like the ones out West in CA/​and Canada, more of just a mountain for snow recreation sports)…
— I heard about this place through some new friends in CT, and decided to check it out since it’s only about an hour further north of Danbury.
— definitely not very crowded and thus very short lines… a lot of space on the mountain top even when not all 24 trails are open, (6 lift lines)…
— it’s a great place to for a day trip from the Southern CT area, and a great place to practice your ski/​snowboard moves… very wide Green areas…

I stumbled across this mountain in one of my routine Google searches for randomness. Its only an hour north of Danbury, which is a similar drive to the other mountains I have visited, so I figured why not try something new? Its got 24 trails and 6 lifts and is one of the larger mountains I have come across in Connecticut. Tickets are fairly priced (check the website out for more details).
However I must say that this was definitely a ‘skier’ mountain. I’d say the ratio was 75% skier/​25% snowboarder. They did have a small area dedicated to jumps but no rails that I saw. If you fancy yourself some tricks then I might venture elsewhere.
I went for the early session on a Sat morning and was pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded it was. This meant a lot of runs and little, if any, waiting time. This was a big factor in my 4 star rating because I hate waiting.
If you don’t mind skiers traversing your path and are looking for a nice peaceful place to just ride then I would say check out Mohawk Mountain. See you on the slopes.