SAM Magazine—Lincoln, N.H., Sept. 2, 2026—Loon Mountain Resort plans to add 272 acres of inbounds tree skiing for the 2027-28 winter season in an area called Black Ridge. Enterprising skiers and riders have accessed this terrain in the past; it will now officially become part of Loon’s acreage, and will increase the resort’s total skiable terrain by 67 percent, from 403 acres to 675 acres. As a result, Loon will eclipse Bretton Woods (470 skiable acres) as the largest ski area in New Hampshire.

The terrain pod is located to the east of Loon’s current developed terrain and is part of a recently approved 350-acre expansion by the U.S. Forest Service to the ski area’s permitted boundary within the White Mountain National Forest.

Black Ridge will consist entirely of expert tree terrain through dense pine forests, steep gullies, and open hardwood glades. “Black Ridge gives our most advanced guests something genuinely different—real forest character, inside our boundary, without losing what makes this terrain wild,” said Loon president and general manager Brian Norton.

The new terrain will not be served by a new chairlift. Guests will take the North Peak Express Quad to the top of North Peak and access the terrain through an entry gate—expected to be more like an arched entryway with signage rather than a backcountry gate like there are at western ski areas. 

Loon plans to build a 1.25-mile access route along the upper portion of the terrain. The distance to the first area guests can drop into is still to be determined. Hiking and/or pushing may be required on the traverse, the resort said. 

The terrain at Black Ridge starts as high as 2,850 feet in elevation and has a vertical drop of 1,350 feet. The resort will thin tree limbs, small trees, and brush “at pertinent areas to broaden options for trail navigation and connecting open spaces,” according to an August update to the USFS project information form. Construction of a new bridge across a small creek at the bottom of the terrain to connect skiers and riders with existing trails is also planned. 

On-mountain work is expected to begin in early 2027.

The impetus for the expansion is to diversify the resort’s variety of terrain—it currently maintains 35 acres of inbounds tree skiing—and to “improve safety by providing patrol services and more efficient skier rescue services in this area that is routinely used by skiers visiting the resort,” the resort said in the USFS form. 

In other words, guests were already skiing in Black Ridge, but since the terrain was outside the ski area boundary it wasn’t patrolled. Starting in 2027-28, it will be patrolled, and the new access route at the top will function “as a critical response corridor, allowing Ski Patrol teams to dispatch and reach the area during an emergency response,” according to the Black Ridge webpage. 

“Black Ridge isn't for everyone, and that's the point,” said Norton. “It's a true rugged experience—natural and raw, unlike anything else we maintain at Loon today.”