Middleton's Tourism Commission spent two meetings this fall deciding what to call a building whose main job is getting people out onto a trail. The name it chose explains most of what the new building off Schwartz Road will and won't do this winter.
The building at the CXC Outdoor Center, 4355 Schwartz Road, has its grand opening on Thursday, Nov. 5. For about a year it was called the Middleton Nordic Center. On Oct. 6 the commission renamed it the Middleton Nordic Lodge. The new name fits the building's role. It is the entrance to a trail system that runs on its own calendar, so a ribbon-cutting in early November opens the doors. Skiing still has to wait for snow and snowmaking.
Center, Trailhead, Lodge
The naming question came from Visit Middleton's money. Visit Middleton gave a $250,000 grant to the CXC Foundation toward the building, and that grant came with naming rights. The commission first picked "Middleton Nordic Center," which is the name on the logo Visit Middleton published when it announced the September 2025 groundbreaking.
Yuriy Gusev, director of the CXC Outdoor Recreation Center, asked the commission to reconsider. The Sept. 29 meeting record says he was concerned that a sign reading "Middleton Nordic Center" would look odd at a site already called the CXC Outdoor Recreation Center, and he suggested "trailhead." Commissioners went back and forth over what "trailhead" means and whether "lodge" fits better. Commissioner Elkins pointed out that in his businesses, a lodge means rooms for rent. Commissioner Bagstad said that, coming from outside the hotel business, he felt "lodge" suited the structure. That meeting didn't have a quorum, so the decision was held over.
The vote came on Oct. 6. The commission had gathered at Holy Wisdom Monastery for a strategic planning workshop and handled the name first. Bagstad moved for "Middleton Nordic Lodge," Elkins seconded, no one discussed it further, and the motion carried, according to the Oct. 6 minutes.
Both options Gusev offered, "lodge" and "trailhead," describe a place you pass through on your way somewhere else. Visit Middleton's grand opening announcement was posted Sept. 16, before the vote, so it still uses the old name. You'll likely see both names for a while.
What the Lodge Holds
The list of what's inside makes the trailhead role clear. Visit Middleton says the building contains:
- A community multi-use room and a board room, both available to rent
- Restrooms
- A private performance physical therapy office
- A Nordic retail and rental shop
- CXC Outdoor Center's main office
- The CXC Performance Training Gym
- An outdoor area for larger events
Most of that list is about getting skiers onto the trails and taking care of them afterward. You can rent equipment, change, use a real restroom, and find the people who run the trails. The rentable rooms and event space give the building uses in the other three seasons. The 2025 groundbreaking plan listed nearly the same rooms but called them a "community lounge" and a "physical therapy tenant." The final version is a little more formal and a little more training-focused.
It also took longer than planned. At the groundbreaking on Sept. 16, 2025, the building was "scheduled to be complete and open by summer 2026." It is opening in November, a full season later. One thing hasn't changed since that announcement: "the trails are already in use."
The Trails Keep Their Own Calendar
The trails were here before the building, and they follow their own rules. The land was donated to the city in 2021 by Dan and Natalie Erdman, who wanted it never to be developed commercially and kept open to the public for outdoor recreation. Gusev had been pushing for a facility in Middleton for a decade. In the groundbreaking announcement, he pointed to the site's "topography, the variety of the trails, and proximity to a large population area."
Visit Middleton lists up to 13 km of groomed trails for both skate and classic skiing. Snowmaking and frequent grooming are meant to keep conditions reliable from December through March. Last season, CXC's pass page expected snowmaking to begin around Dec. 1, weather permitting, and listed a pass season of Dec. 1 through March 15. Pleasant View Golf Course's trail page gives a longer window of mid-November through mid-April for the CXC property trails. Either way, the Nov. 5 ceremony opens the building and celebrates the start of the season. It doesn't promise groomed snow that afternoon.
Passes are where most first-time skiers get confused. CXC sells two kinds, and they cover different ground:
| Regular pass | All-Access pass | |
|---|---|---|
| Groomed CXC Trail, including Pleasant View | Yes | Yes |
| Machine-made snow loop when natural snow is short | No | Yes |
| Lit at night | The loop is lit, but this pass doesn't cover it | Yes, on the loop |
This matters most in early winter. When natural snow is short, the machine-made loop takes an All-Access or daily pass. For reference, the 2025–26 pass page priced an adult All-Access season pass at $110 and an adult day pass at $25, with children 5 and under free. Those were last winter's prices. Check the current pass page before you buy for this season. Middleton residents have received a discount in past seasons, and the amount is listed differently on different pages, so confirm it when you buy.
CXC covers its trail costs through pass sales, according to Pleasant View. The Regular pass is what covers the groomed trails at Pleasant View.
Getting In This Winter
The lodge also settles where you park. Pleasant View's trail page says winter access to the ski trailhead lot is from Schwartz Road, south of U.S. Highway 14. The golf course driveway and parking lot are closed to the public in winter, since everyone on the trails needs a pass. If you walked or snowshoed out of the golf course lot years ago, the new building now marks the entrance off Schwartz Road.
Pleasant View's ski policies page directs skiers to CXC for trail information and passes. Visit Middleton's announcement links to CXC's center page for "updates about the Middleton Nordic Center, trails, and opening season." Watch that page in late November to find out when the snowmaking loop opens.
Nov. 5, Hour by Hour
Visit Middleton's schedule for the grand opening at 4355 Schwartz Road:
- 1 p.m. Doors open with guided tours of the building and grounds.
- 3:30 p.m. Presentations begin. Speakers are Dan and Natalie Erdman; Yuriy Gusev, CXC director; Steve Cohan, chairman of the CXC Skiing Foundation; Mayor Lisa Janairo; and City Administrator Bryan Gadow.
- Until about 5:30 p.m. Attendees can stay, look around, and talk with each other.
The tours are the best chance to see the rental shop, the training gym, and the rentable rooms before the season gets busy. If you're thinking of booking the multi-use room for a meeting or a winter party, the afternoon is a good time to ask CXC staff how reservations work.
Cohan described the plan at the groundbreaking as turning the site into "a true regional destination where families connect, athletes train, and future Olympians take their first strides." The building is now finished. The trails can be skied once the snowmaking loop starts running.
Our team is based in Middleton, and we follow projects like the Nordic Lodge because they change how a neighborhood works day to day. If you live near Schwartz Road and want to know how the new trailhead affects what your home is worth, MHB Real Estate can walk you through it with a 42-point market analysis and our flat-fee $5,000 selling process. Get started.
