Author: By Andrew Nemethy, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, January 10, 1999

Page: L13

Section: Travel

With its small, rustic ski and rental cabin heated with a wood stove and with equally small crowds, Burke Mountain Cross-Country in Vermont will never be mistaken for the Trapp Family Lodge or Jackson, N.H. But get beyond the low-key, 1970s-style ski center and you discover a modern, 80-kilometer system that matches anything at its more famous nordic brethrens.

The well-groomed trails start at 1,300 feet and wind through gorgeous woods on magical terrain, with panoramic views popping up everywhere, like the vista from the intermediate Northview trail of the twin humps of mounts Pisgah and Hor around Lake Willoughby. Best of all, during a morning cruise last winter I had the place practically to myself -- though I would have welcomed seeing the moose that often share the trails here.

With all the winter buzz over snowboarding, shaped parabolic skis, and the reinvention of snowshoeing, cross-country skiing almost seems to have been left in the snow dust. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here in the state where cross-country was reborn in the late 1960s, the sport is alive and well, and good as it ever was -- in fact better, thanks to constant (if unhyped) incremental improvements that have taken place at Vermont's touring centers and in all facets of nordic gear.

Vermont has over 40 ski touring centers, the most of any state in New England: The trails, stretched end-to-end, would add up to around 2,000 miles. This nordic cornucopia is not surprising. With Vermont's distinctive mix of open rolling fields and handsome forests of maple, dark pine, and spruce -- the legacy of a long history of agriculture -- and a less rugged topography than New Hampshire, the Green Mountains were virtually created for the sport of cross-country skiing.

However, many skiers, myself included, tend to go to the same few big-name cross-country centers over and over again, ignoring all this variety, exemplified by places like Burke. There's some sense to this, of course: It's nice to know what's around the corner on a trail when you're at warp speed out of control on a downhill (one of my specialties), or that there's a shortcut back to the lodge when your legs are feeling like wilted celery. Familiarity here breeds comfort, not contempt. And the big-name places like Trapp's in Stowe, the Craftsbury Nordic Center, Woodstock, or Blueberry Hill in Goshen offer just about everything a nordic nut could desire.

But when it comes to recharging one's mental batteries with a vital jolt of winter's sweet landscape, there's a lot to be said for getting out of that ski rut and exploring new trails, vistas, and terrain, not to mention new inns, which go hand in glove with cross-country skiing in Vermont. So here's a tour of some places you may not have heard of, each cut from its own cloth and stitched onto a distinct landscape. Whether it's gentle groomed boulevards, rollicking romps through hill and dale, or high peaks adventures you enjoy, your next great favorite trail may well await here.

To those who haven't tried cross-country in a while, or once suffered an outing in the old three-pin binding and leather boot days -- an experience not unlike skiing in slippers -- today's modern rental equipment is an eye-opener when it comes to comfort and control. Continual refinements in the two main binding systems, known as NNN and SNS, and in rental skis, which are shorter, lighter, more responsive and stable, make the sport much easier for novices and more fun to learn. For advanced and telemark skiers, many shops now offer high-end demo equipment for rental.

Also, just as alpine areas have constantly improved grooming, so have many ski touring centers, thanks to the use of more sophisticated equipment and power tillers that turn crusty snow and ice into soft granular. And along with more user-friendly trails, you'll also find that touring centers have branched out to offer all kinds of activities for families, from snowshoe trails and rentals to ice skating, tubing, sleigh rides, and maple sugaring in spring, along with guided adventure treks, moonlight and nature or animal-tracking tours.

Snacks, cookies, and soups are offered in the cozy ski shop. Trail fees and rental fees are both $12 for adults, $8 for junior and seniors.

Lessons are offered by appointment. Call 800-786-8338 or 802-626-8338.

Burke is 8 miles from Interstate 91, Exit 23, about three hours from Boston.

For accommodations, the Old Cutter Inn is an oasis of Swiss hospitality; call 802-626-5152. Or try the Village Inn B & B, 802-626-3161. For more information, call the Northeast Kingdom Travel Association at 888-884-8001 or visit www.vtnek.com.

Hazen's Notch. Hazen's Notch Ski Touring is in Montgomery Center, in the far north near Jay Peak. It's a bit of a haul, but the rewards are well worth it at this time-warp ski center, with its laid-back, un-Lycra atmosphere (and the only x-c teepee in the state). There's a cozy, rustic touring center and 45 kilometers of lovely meandering, intimate old-style trails immaculately groomed for diagonal skiing only. The narrow tracks offer variety for all levels, winding through majestic old sugarbush woods, farm fields, and clearings that look out on the backside of towering Jay Peak and a string of 2,000- to 3,000-foot mountains.

Visitors here usually have the place to themselves, and get to enjoy the bounty of the Jay Peak snow gods, which dump abundant white stuff (and assure great spring skiing). Co-owner Rolf Anderson runs Vermont Voyageur Expeditions, which offers lessons, guided back-country tours, mountaineering, and snowshoeing adventures. While the grooming is good, the rental equipment is a mixed bag.

Trail fees at Hazen's Notch are $8 for adults, $6 juniors; adult rentals $12, $8 juniors; private lessons $20, $30 for two; for more information, call 802-326-4708. For accommodations, there's the upscale Black Lantern Inn, 800-255-8661, and Inn on Trout River, 800-338-7049, or Phineas Swan B & B, 802-326-4306.

Haven's Notch is on Route 58, 1 1/2 miles from Montgomery Center.

Take Interstate 93 to Interstate 89, Exit 10, Then routes 100 and 118 to Montgomery Center, about 4 1/2 hours.

Highland Lodge. This white summer lodge above Caspian Lake has found a winter niche by offering a cross-country skier's dream of pastoral New England scenery.

Lodge owners David and Willy Smith opened for ski touring 25 years ago and have a loyal following. The grooming is decidedly laissez faire, but the 60-kilometer trail network (diagonal only) is Currier & Ives come to life, a mix of old maple-tree lined lanes, barns, and houses, serene forests, lakes, and open farm fields that is unmatched anywhere. The skiers who come here come to get away, to find peace and quiet and natural beauty, not hustle around. The rental shop next to the lodge has a mix of old and new equipment, offers lessons and snowshoeing as well, plus sledding and toboggans.

The lodge offers 11 cozy rooms and several nice sitting areas, good family-style food in the dining room, and four wonderful winterized cottages for special privacy. Trail fees are $10 adult, $7 junior and senior; rentals are $10 adults, or $25 for family of three; group lessons are $12. (Call 802-533-2647 or visit www.pbpub.com/Vermont/hiland.htm.)

Highland Lodge is about four hours from Boston. Take I-93 to St. Johnsbury and I-91, then Route 2 west to Route 16 and follow signs for Greensboro and Highland Lodge.

Adult day pass, $13, senior $10, junior $6; adult rentals, $16, high performance $20, junior $6. Group lessons $22. Call 802-775-7077 or visit www.ebk.com/mtmeadowsxc. Accommodations: Mountain Meadows Lodge next door has long offered friendly, family-style lodging and meals for skiers; 800-370-4567 or 802-775-1010.

The family-friendly touring center features 30 kilometers of well-groomed trails for skating and classical, winding high into the hills, including a nice overlook on the village. There's another 30 kilometers of back-country trails behind Bear Mountain. The ski center has top-of-the-line rentals and excellent ski instruction, as well as snowshoe rentals and trails, a pleasant sitting area, food, ice-skating, and a snow park with snow-tubing and jumps for kids.

Adult day trail pass, $14; seniors, $10; junior, $6. Adult rentals, $14, $20 for high performance, $10 juniors. Call 802-843-2400. For accommodations, the Old Tavern, 800-843-1801 or 802-843-2231. For less expensive digs, try the Inn at Woodchuck Farm, 802-843-2398 or Fullerton Inn in Chester, 802-875-2444.

Rikert's. If you've never heard of it, you're not alone. Rikert's is owned and run by Middlebury College, which uses it as the training and racing venue for area ski teams. The college doesn't go out of its way to advertise or promote this secret snow haven about 1,400 feet up Middlebury Gap, surrounded by a ring of 3,000-foot peaks topped by Battell Mountain. Rikert's has 42 kilometers of expertly groomed trails, 15 set for skating. Its network winds through dense spruce forests and fields, beaver meadows and old country lanes, with a great up-and-down pacing that makes them fun to ski or train on. Afternoons can be crowded with collegiate racers working out or Bill Koch Ski league kids having a romp, so come in the morning and call ahead to see if trail might be closed for weekend races. The rest of the time, you'll have the place and mountain vistas all to yourself. The touring center in the cellar of the old barn that sits in the middle of Middlebury's Breadloaf campus has a mixed bag of rentals and offers lessons on weekends or by appointment. Adult day fee, $10; juniors, $5; adult rentals, $12; juniors, $6; group lessons, $18. Call 802-399-2759. For accommodations, try the nearby Waybury Inn, 800-348-1810 or 802-388-4015, or area B & Bs. For more information, call the Addison County Chamber at 802-388-7951. Rikert's is in Bread Loaf on Route 125, about 20 minutes from Middlebury, just west of the Middlebury Snow Bowl ski area.

Wild Wings. Like Hazen's Notch, this long-running touring center near Bromley Ski area is happily stuck back in the mid-1970s when Chuck Black's parents began it. The touring center is in an old converted horse barn, the atmosphere is decidedly low-key and family-friendly, with only diagonal skiing offered. ``The only thing that's state of the art is the grooming,'' quips Black, who does a top-notch job of maintaining the 25-kilometer network (plus maintaining a Web site with ski conditions). With a base elevation of 1,500 feet and a location in the heart of the Green Mountain National Forest, Wild Wings has a far-from-the-madding-crowd feel, picks up tons of snow, and its one-way trails offer great cruising through handsome maple and softwood forests and past beaver meadows, climbing as high as 2,000 feet on the expert run Blue Jay. The ski shop has a good selection of rentals and offers lessons. Adult Trail pass, $10; juniors and seniors, $7; rentals, $12; juniors, $9; group lessons, $12. For information, call 802-824-6793. For accommodations, try the nearby Landgrove Inn, 802-824-6673, or Meadowbrook Inn, 800-498-6445.

Other lesser-known cross-country ski areas worth exploring are: the Round Barn Farm ski touring center, 802-496-2276, and Ole's, 802-496-3430, both in the Mad River Valley/Sugarbush area; Green Trails in Brookfield, 802-276-3412; and Escape Routes/The Pittsfield Inn, which offers great guided back country and inn-to-inn tours in the Green Mountain National Forest north of Killington, 802-746-8943.

For a complete list of Vermont's cross-country ski areas, consult the Vermont Winter Guide, available from the Department of Tourism & Marketing, 134 State St., Montpelier VT 05602; or call the department at 800-VERMONT or the Vermont Chamber of Commerce at 802-223-3443.