MILLINOCKET – The cross country trails at the University of Maine were soft in spots Tuesday, but packed solid deep in the woods, leaving skiers satisfied. Yet this will not last.

However, it will not be the end of skiing.

A mere 60 miles north of the Stillwater exit there is a haven of hardy, hidden, packed trails.

Take I-95 to Exit 56 and head 12 miles to Millinocket where a local merchant’s sign will greet you, encouraging all to “Think Spring.” Ignore it. At least, in so far as spring means an end to Nordic bliss.

You still can ski through white-washed woods while enjoying the 40-degree temperatures that warmed this town Monday. In this area, locals say, you can enjoy it for a long time.

Continue along Route 11 until you pass Rideout’s Market and from there go another three miles to the Baithole Trails. They’ll tell you at Rideout’s that if you hit the green bridge, you’ve gone too far, and that’s a good marker – because the bridge runs over a body of water that provides some stunning views from the trails.

But don’t go for the views, or even the fact these trails are free (the only ones listed on the Maine Nordic Ski Council’s web site that are). Come for the snow. Come now. Come in April. Some years, you can even come later.

“Sometimes there is a dedicated fool out there the first of May,” said trail groomer Harry Elkins.

The Baithole Nordic ski trails and connecting Club House Trails are maintained by the Northern Timber Cruisers and, situated as they are deep in the woods, they typically stay hard into April.

“We ski more and more in Millinocket. The primary reason is the past few snowless winters, you have to go that far north to get a decent snow cover,” said George Buck of Orland, who skied in Millinocket last week with his wife Anna.

The Bucks ski on Mount Desert Island, when there is snow, and at the UMaine trails. But for the past four years they have visited Millinocket three or four times a winter, happily making the 98-mile drive.

“We’ll ski about five miles from the clubhouse to the warming hut,” George Buck said. “We’ll build a fire. We’ll have lunch and ski back. That’s 10 to 11 miles.”

Monday afternoon there were at least four skiers moving along the Baithole trails. Two said the trails were fine, another said they were sticky in places, but wet spots were few, the snow on the trails was hard for miles. And then there’s the scenery.

The Maine Nordic Skiing council bills the trails as having views of Mount Katahdin. Along the first couple of miles of the Baithole Trails, the hikers shrine is most elusive. But it’s there.

“You can see Katahdin when it’s a beautiful clear day. Absolutely,” Buck said.

Neither of the two loops are more than a few miles out of town, but Elkins said along those 35 miles of trails you feel like you’re in the wilderness. And he’s right.

One loop offers evergreen scenes. The other has more of a hardwood feel. The great difference is the more challenging hills on the Club House trails. But it’s not long on either before you’re out of earshot of traffic.

“On a nice Sunday or Saturday at the Baithole, you can see 20 to 30 parked cars,” Elkins said. “But it’s such a large area, you don’t see more than three or four people on the trail. It’s never crowded.”

That may be more due to a lack of public awareness. Those at the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce say the trails are little-known – a wonder, as there are no hassles involved here.

The trip up I-95 is a cinch. Wood signs are everywhere on the trails. And, while other Maine ski centers cost up to $10 for access, the Millinocket trails cost nothing.

Other Nordic centers come with rentals, lessons, sleigh rides, saunas – but not so many so late in the season come with the most important necessity.

“We still have plenty of snow. That will stay,” Elkins said Tuesday. “I know. I’ve been grooming them for eight years.”

Presently, the Maine Nordic Ski Council reports just one Nordic center – Rangeley Lakes – having a greater snow base (with 30 inches compared to Millinocket’s 24).

For conditions, call Elkins at 723-8385 or Don Nodine at 723-4329.