Fosters, Martins, Ewell, Keiser, Kettle ponds

[kittyw...@gmail.com]

Chi and I drove from Burlington and met up with Ken Stowe for what turned into a tour of some fantastic ponds in and near the Groton State Forest. Ken was a fantastic tour guide of some of his favorite early season skating venues.

Here’s the rundown of the venues…

Fosters- beautiful, fairly uniform 2.5 inch black ice with an ever so slight dusting of snow. We gave a wide birth to the areas around two beaver houses. I’ll let Ken chime in with more tips on what to look out for on his home pond. Spotted at Fosters was a juvenile bald eagle. Access is straight forward via Google Maps and the road was decent today though an AWD would be good is trickier conditions (and I didn’t mind having one today)

Martin’s Pond- not far from Fosters is Martins (about a ten minute drive but just over the hill as the crow flies). Martin’s offered the smoothest skating of the day with a light dusting of snow on black ice. The ice measured closer to 2 inches here and testing down the lake gave us between two and six poke ice. We didn’t make it to the end of the lake as the pitch was getting higher and the pokes fewer. But we had plenty of room for a few big laps.

Ewell Pond- Next up, we went down the road to Ewell Pond with very similar elevation and topography as the other two ponds. Much of it was open water with some skimmed ice near the shore.

Keiser Pond- We then headed to Keiser. We were getting on the ice as an ice fisherman was coming off and said he tested 4 inches across the pond and caught a handful of perch. This pond was the quietest and most solid feeling. It also had more crunch to the skating texture, something a bit rougher than grapefruit perhaps but still a very pleasant skate. Interestingly, we found live spiders traversing the snow covered ice and a dead crawfish on the ice surface. There were a few easily identifiable spots where lily pads below the surface have created soft spots in the ice.

Two roads diverged- from here, Ken headed towards home in St. J with a plan to Scout Stiles Pond on the way home (we’ll let him chime in on that). Chi and I headed back towards Burlington and made our last scouting stop at Kettle Pond. Kettle offered black ice (4-6 poke) of about 2ish inches with about half an inch of powdery snow on top. It offered a really smooth skate and pristine beauty. We made a small lap, deciding not to push our luck.

Also of note, Molly’s Falls is still mostly open water with a skin starting to form in places. Throughout the day, super gentle snow fell. Not sure how that will impact future skating and how it may resurface but worth keeping an eye on.

What a fantastic first day out and it was really wonderful to make a new skating friend. The day was dramatically enhanced by Ken’s local knowledge.

I likely left a key detail out. Chi and Ken, please add to this report as you see fit.

Cheers to the 2025/2026 skating season!
Kitty