Gunstock Recreation Area
Overview
Gunstock’s identity leans harder on lights and tubes than most New Hampshire ski areas of comparable size. Twenty-two of its trails carry lighting for night skiing and riding, the terrain park stays open after dark, and a separate conveyor-lift tubing hill runs both day and night sessions — a lineup that positions Gunstock as much for evening visitors from the Lakes Region as for daytime destination skiers. The resort sits at 719 Cherry Valley Road in Gilford, climbing from a 287.3-meter base to a 684.4-meter summit, a vertical rise of 397.1 meters.
The resort’s own marketing counts 227 skiable acres across 49 trails, while third-party trail-mapping data used here tracks a denser 73 distinct runs totaling 25.58 kilometers, served by six lifts: five chairlifts and one magic carpet for beginners. However the runs are counted, the difficulty spread skews toward the middle and upper-middle of the scale — 14.74 kilometers intermediate and 7.68 kilometers advanced against just 2.45 kilometers easy and a scant 0.06 kilometers of dedicated novice terrain. Newer skiers get targeted help instead through Side Arm’s Progression Park, built specifically for developing riders, alongside the larger, regularly refreshed Blundersmoke Terrain Park for more experienced freestyle skiers.
No multi-resort pass currently includes Gunstock among its partners, which keeps the resort’s ticketing independent of the Epic and Ikon networks that cover several nearby New Hampshire competitors. Getting there by air typically means Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, 66.8 kilometers out, or Manchester-Boston Regional at a near-identical 66.9 kilometers; Portland’s Jetport in Maine, 85.8 kilometers away, serves as the wider region’s gateway. Manchester itself is the closest larger city at 60.1 kilometers.
Beyond the alpine operation, Gunstock runs a genuinely broad winter program: a full-service Nordic Center with groomed cross-country trails and rentals, guided snowshoeing tours, and skijoring sessions where skiers are pulled by dogs, alongside membership in Uphill New England for skinning access before or after hours. In summer, a 260-site campground with full hookups and an on-site camp store extend the property’s use well past ski season, reinforcing Gunstock’s role as a year-round recreation hub for the Lakes Region rather than a single-purpose alpine mountain.
Retail and dining follow the same year-round pattern. A dedicated Ski & Sport Shop handles equipment sales alongside the resort’s rental fleet, while food service is split between a mountaintop location and base-area options, giving skiers a choice of where to refuel without leaving the property. Combined with the Nordic Center’s own rental and lesson operation, that layered set of services, alpine, Nordic, tubing, and campground, positions Gunstock less as a single ski hill and more as a Lakes Region recreation campus that happens to be built around a mountain.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-13
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| chair lift | 5 |
| magic carpet | 1 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 2.45 km |
| other | 0.64 km |
| novice | 0.06 km |
| advanced | 7.68 km |
| intermediate | 14.74 km |
Maps
Official trail map: see gunstock.com
Run & lift overview
Gunstock Recreation Area: 168 runs, 6 lifts. A schematic built from OpenStreetMap/OpenSkiMap data — this is not Gunstock Recreation Area's official trail map. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Gunstock Recreation Area is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
Gunstock Recreation Area has no multi-resort pass affiliations on record.
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) — 66.8 km straight-line
- Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) — 66.9 km straight-line
- Lebanon Municipal Airport (LEB) — 76.5 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Manchester, New Hampshire — 60.1 km straight-line
- Lowell, Massachusetts — 100 km straight-line
- Cambridge, Massachusetts — 130.4 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Gunstock Recreation Area is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Ragged Mountain Resort — 39 km straight-line, 336 m vertical
- Tenney Mountain Resort — 40 km straight-line, 428.1 m vertical
- Waterville Valley Resort — 50 km straight-line, 606.6 m vertical
- Pats Peak — 54 km straight-line, 229 m vertical
- Attitash Mountain Resort — 61 km straight-line, 505.2 m vertical
FAQ
- Where exactly is Gunstock Recreation Area located?
- Gunstock sits at 719 Cherry Valley Road in Gilford, New Hampshire, in the Lakes Region, with a base elevation of 287.3 meters and a summit at 684.4 meters. That puts its vertical rise at 397.1 meters, respectable for a Lakes Region ski area of its footprint.
- How many trails and lifts does Gunstock have?
- The resort's own site lists 227 skiable acres across 49 named trails, while mapped OSM/ski-data records count 73 distinct runs served by 6 lifts, five chairlifts and one magic carpet, spanning 25.58 kilometers of trail. The gap between the two trail counts likely reflects how named trails get subdivided into separate mapped segments in the more granular ski-data records.
- Does Gunstock offer night skiing?
- Yes, 22 of its trails are lit for night skiing and riding, along with a night-accessible terrain park and night tubing sessions, making it one of the more night-ski-focused areas in the Lakes Region. That lit-trail count covers a meaningful share of the resort's total terrain, making after-dark laps a core part of the visitor experience rather than a limited add-on.
- Is Gunstock good for beginners?
- Beginner and novice terrain is limited on paper, 2.45 kilometers easy plus just 0.06 kilometers novice, against 14.74 kilometers intermediate and 7.68 kilometers advanced, though the resort's Side Arm's Progression Park is built specifically for developing riders. A further 0.64 kilometers of trail falls outside the standard difficulty categories, adding a small amount of additional terrain variety beyond the graded runs.
- What tubing options does Gunstock have?
- A conveyor-style lift carries riders uphill for both day and night tubing sessions, run separately from the ski and ride operation. The tubing hill operates on its own schedule alongside the resort's lit terrain park, giving non-skiing visitors a dedicated activity of their own.
- Does any big multi-mountain pass cover Gunstock?
- No major pass currently lists Gunstock as a partner, so lift access runs through the resort's own tickets and season pass products. That keeps Gunstock's pricing and access model independent of the Epic and Ikon networks that several nearby New Hampshire competitors participate in.
- What's the closest airport to Gunstock?
- Portsmouth International Airport at Pease is nearest at 66.8 kilometers, essentially tied with Manchester-Boston Regional at 66.9 kilometers, while Portland International Jetport in Maine serves as the area's broader gateway at 85.8 kilometers. Manchester, the closest larger city, sits just 60.1 kilometers from the resort, slightly nearer than either airport option.
- Does Gunstock offer activities beyond alpine skiing?
- Yes, the property runs a full-service Nordic Center with groomed cross-country trails, guided snowshoeing, skijoring behind dogs, and a 260-site summer campground with full hookups. On-site retail is handled through a dedicated Ski & Sport Shop, and dining options are split between mountaintop and base-area locations.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-17
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.