Ski season is here! With the temperatures in the teens, it’s the best time to distract yourself with fun winter activities. Many working people can only take a weekend to ski after working all week. How far could you go skiing when you need to get back to New York on Sunday night? Thankfully, there are plenty of ski resorts near New York City. Some are two-and-a-half hours away while others are a quick, brisk trip by car. We’ve included places where you can stay, some right in the resort and some a mile away.
Thunder Ridge Ski Resort
137 Birch Hill Road, Patterson, NY 12563
(845) 878-4100
Thunder Ridge Ski Resort is only about an hour away from New York City—perfect for a quick, weekend getaway. With real and homemade snow, the resort is super affordable. For those who have children, there’s ski school and babysitting. This isn’t Park City, so don’t expect niceties and a large ski area. Still, Thunder Ridge has 30 trails, 3 chairlifts, and 4 magic carpets. It is famous for being open at night, so you have every opportunity to get down the slopes during your stay. It has a spacious lodge, with a lounge that overlooks the mountain base, is a great way to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate during your break from skiing. The lodge also has a full-service cafeteria.
A state-of-the-art snow-making machine can cover over 100 acres with soft powder, which means Thunder Ridge is always open during the ski season. There are several hotels around it that offer overnight ski and stay packages, including the Hilton Garden Inn, the Maron Hotel, the Holiday Inn Danbury-Bethel, and a bed-and-breakfast called The Pawling House.
Camelback Ski Resort
301 Resort Drive, Tannersville, PA 18372
(570) 629-1661
The Camelback Mountain Ski Resort is less than two hours away from New York City. With 24 machine-groomed trails and 14 lifts, this mountain is a popular destination for the tri-state area skiers and snow-lovers. It’s the biggest snow tubing park in the USA and has been voted the #1 place to learn to ski and ride in the USA.
Not only do they have a full lodge with 453 guest suites, the amenities are spectacular. With an adult and kid spa, shopping and entertainment for the whole family, you’ll never get bored. Oh, and did we mention the indoor waterpark? That’s right, a complete indoor waterpark to enjoy the best of both worlds when you are tired of the cold. It’s the perfect weekend getaway for friends and family!
Mountain Creek
200 Route 94, Vernon, NJ 07462
(973) 827-2000
Mountain Creek is 47 miles, or an hour and a half, away from the George Washington Bridge. This makes it the closest ski resort to the New York metropolitan area, with Long Island, Philadelphia, and central New Jersey close by. This resort offers 167 skiable acres spread over four mountain peaks, 100% night-time skiing and snowboarding, one of the nation’s largest snow tubing parks, an alpine coaster and multiple zip-lines. It also has the region’s most extensive snow-making system and the highest vertical at 1,040 feet. Here, skiers and non-skiers alike can easily soak up the picturesque mountain atmosphere.
The resort is family-friendly—there’s even a family game room—the staff is genial, and the convenient lodging options are on or near the premises if you don’t want just a day of skiing. The Mountain Creek, which has an expansive snowmaking program, allows you to stay overnight with two kinds of housing. One accommodation is The Appalachian, which is a studio that includes one or two beds, a kitchen, a working fireplace and those glorious views. Another overnighter is called the Black Creek Sanctuary. While it’s off the base area—it’s a two-minute drive to the resort—the Black Creek offers townhouse living for one, two or three bedrooms.
Mohawk Mountain Ski Area
46 Great Hollow Road, West Cornwall, CT 06796
(860) 672-6100
The Mohawk Mountain Ski Area is located in Cornwall, Connecticut, about 2.5 hours out of NYC. For day-time or night-time skiers, The Mohawk is famous for being a short ride and a reliable ski resort for Connecticut residents. In addition, it’s popular among New Yorkers as it’s only a 95-mile-ride to the ski area. The Mohawk has challenging and well-marked trails, new lifts, real and homemade snow, ski school for kids, and an on-site mountain restaurant in the base lodge. The ski area is famous for popularizing artificial snow. The Mohawk is the oldest ski area in Connecticut and has a summit elevation of 1600 feet, 25 trails spread out over 107 acres for skiers, and a 650-foot vertical drop. For its night skiers, there are 12 available trails.
There are two inns nearby the ski area – The Cornwall and The Amselhaus. The Cornwall is a lodge with 13 guestrooms that all include private baths, cable, and free Wi-Fi. The Amselhaus in Cornwall Bridge offers a competitive “Stay and Ski Weekend” rate.
Hunter Mountain
Hunter Mountain, Hunter, NY 12442
(800) 486-8376
Located two hours and forty minutes from the Upper East Side, Hunter Mountain in the Catskills is the farthest ski resort from New York. But, it has plenty to offer. The lodge, known as the “Snowmaking Capital of the World,” has fast lifts and 1,100 snow guns for optimal conditions. Fifty-three trails over 240 acres are broken into three districts so that skiers with the same abilities can share their own slope. There are many eateries around the resort, as well as two full-service retail stores, and plenty of events and programs for families with children. The nearby Liftside Condominiums offer breathtaking mountain views, rustic elegance, and luxurious family-friendly boarding. The Liftside also has ski-in / ski-out privileges, and rooms equipped with living rooms that boast flat screen TVs, a full kitchen that’s been recently renovated, an outdoor private balcony, a wood-burning fireplace, and even washer and dryer units. Bonus: there’s also a hot tub.
Windham Mountain
Windham Mountain, Windham, NY 12496
(518) 734-4300
Windham Mountain, a popular ski resort that has trails for all levels and a family-friendly park for skating and tubing, is less than three hours from New York City. Located in Windham, New York, in the northern area of the Catskills, Windham has 54 trails totaling 285 skiable areas with 12 lifts, including two high-speed detachable quads. The highest peak is situated at 3,100 feet and the vertical rise at 1,600 feet. The mountain offers daily ski and snowboard lessons, which is great for beginners. It also includes an alpine spa, a lift-served mountain bike park, golf during warm weathers, an adventure park, and three in-house restaurants.
The ski resort doesn’t offer in-house lodging, but there are several nearby. The Winwood Mountain Inn has a movie theater, a fitness center, and a restaurant with a free shuttle to the mountain. The Albergo Allegria, which is #1 TripAdvisor rated and AAA 4 Diamond Award Recipient for 16 consecutive years, includes 21 rooms with modern amenities, while 7 of them feature luxury spas and fireplaces. There’s Wi-Fi throughout, a DVD collection that has over a thousand titles, and a 24-hour pantry that offers never-ending desserts like homemade cookies, as well as coffee and tea.
[Featured Image: Barney Moss via Flickr]
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