Nuut

I come from a warmer clime and my children have never seen snow. We are fortunate enough to live in New York for a year. This winter would probably be the only chance my kids get to experience snow. I would love to take them all out of the city for a weekend of snow. I am not sure we need to ski, since none of us have ever done it and I am sure we would be horrible at it. My husband would love to try. I would just like to take them somewhere they can play in the snow and build a snow man and maybe go for a sleigh ride down the mountain or whatever small children do in snow. They are 4 and 6. Price would be an issue. We could rent a car, but somewhere we can go with public transport would be nice. Any ideas?

virginia

it's a ways north of the city but lake placid is a winter wonderland for kids and adults.
advise strongly husband buys day ticket with a Lesson in the morning!! he will actually have fun that way.

wliwl

About the only place you can be guaranteed to have snow is in the Adirondacks. Check out Garnet Hill Lodge for lots of casual, fun family stuff:
http://www.garnet-hill.com/

You could maybe take public transportation to Albany or Utica and rent a car from there.

wliwl

I should have mentioned that while their web site shows a LOT of cross country skiing there is plenty of snowman building and sledding too.

janie

How far are you willing to travel?As others have mentioned, if it's a warm winter, you will barely see any snow in NYC. But chances are that by late January or February, the northern suburbs of NYC and much of Connecticut (about 2 hours away )will have enough snow for simple snow fun--making snowmen, sled rides, etc.

If you don't have or rent a car you may need to stick to a resort like Smuggler's Notch in Vermont(about 5 hours away) Most resorts can arrange pickup from the nearest airport or bus or train station, and then your meals are onsite. Or think about a small town like Lenox or Stockbridge in the Berkshires(Massachusetts)(about 3 hours away). It will probably be cold enough to have snow in the area, but you can still walk to restaurants

bm

JetBlue flies from JFK to Burlington VT (BTV) rather inexpensively. From Burlington you could rent a car and head over to Stowe.

travelbuff2

I wouldn't think you will have a problem finding snow right IN the city this year. Central Park would be the place to take the kids the first day of a good snowfall, and you might try and pick up an inexpensive sled (round plastic one)at a toy store now, so that when the snow comes you are ready.

If you want to see some of the ski resorts, I'd suggest heading up to Vermont. Most of the resorts up there you can get lessons for the kids too, and all the gear is rentable, so you won't have to invest in all the equipment you will need.

I have heard that all the resorts are open and that there's LOTS of snow already so you might pick a weekend, make reservations and GO.

Have a GREAT time.

J62

You mention that your children are 4 & 6 years old. At that age a simple 1/2 day outing (at most) is appropriate - I don't think the advice you've received to visit a major ski resort in Vermont is what you are looking for.

Snowman making is something that is best done right after a snowfall (as in the same day) and only when the temperature is right around freezing. Anything colder and there is not enough moisture to bind the snow properly. Since you will be living in NYC you will have one or more opportunities for fresh snow right in the city.

If you want to try out skiing
Thunder Ridge Ski area in southern Dutchess county (wwww.thunderridgeski.com) is accessible by Metro North RR and has a shuttle bus to the mountain (hill). They have not tubing or sledding.

Prices, including train, ski rental, lift ticket and perhaps lessons will set you back $$ even at the smallest ski places. Prices only go up as you go to bigger ski areas.

Ski areas do NOT allow sledding. Some may have separate areas for controlled tubing, but sledding on a ski mountain is a definite no-no. Campgaw mtn (another close by, small hill) in NJ has tubing www.skicampgaw.com. A little farther away is Woodbury in CT - with more extensive tubing. www.woodburyskiarea.com

Your close by options for sledding are in Central Park in NYC, or venturing out to a public park area in Westchester Co or northern NJ after a snow storm. You would need to bring your own sled. I don't know specific areas myself - perhaps others will chime in with advice.

dfnh

We have plenty of snow in NH but you shouldn't have to drive far. Hopefully there are some CT and NY readers who can tell you of a nearby place. You just need a public park and a couple of inexpensive plastic sleds. Snowman making requires wet snow. We got a couple of inches last night. The snow last week was a drier, powdery kind. In our town there is a small, flood control dam with very steep slopes. Great place for public sledding. If you have to drive to NH for snow, there are small ski areas that offer tubing as well as skiing that are less expensive than the big ski areas. In Concord NH, White's Park seems to be very popular for sledding. There are a couple of small ski areas about 1/2 hour away. i.e. Pat's Peak in Henniker. Concord is about a 5 hr drive from NYC.

Nuut

Thank you for all the advice. I also thought we could do something in the city, but we have only had two small snow falls, about an inch, and it seemed like everywhere else is getting more, so maybe we should get out of the city for snow. Or should we just wait till February?

travelbuff2

It's still very early in the season for snow, January is when we usually get quite a bit, so don't worry it's coming.......

Happy Holidays!!!!

capxxx

How about the Mountain Top Inn in Vermont? They have horse-drawn sleigh rides, a big sledding hill out back, x-country and snow-shoe trails, and an ice rink for skating. Downhill skiing is nearby but not on the premises. They also have one of those big fire-places, a hot tub, and great food.

I second the idea of taking the train to Albany and then rent a car to someplace in the Berkshires or Adairondaks. How about little mom and pop ski area like Berkshire East or Jiminy Peak -- they are smaller, cheaper, and much less crazy-crowded than the big VT resorts. They have sledding and inner-tube riding, too. My brother is a big fan of Brody Mountain.

Don't worry if there isn't any snow in the region -- these places make their own snow. But previous poster is right -- you can only make snowmen and snowballs when conditions are right.

You should try skiing -- I tried it for the first time when I was 45, and it is really fun, even for out of shape grownups. Berkshire East, and probably most of the others, has `free' lessons and `pay' lessons -- the free ones show you how to stop and turn, and how to ride the lift.

The most important thing for skiing is to get some waterproof pants -- either snow pants or a shell to go over something warm.

nytraveler

How much snow you get in the city varies tremendously from one year to another. Some years we get practically none - some we get several storms.

but if you go a little north of the city you can usually find some.

A place you might want to consider is Bear Mountain State Park - which is only about an hour or so by car north of NYC - but usually gets substantially more snow than the city. It has numerous areas for kids to play, trails you can walk - and I'm sure places for little kids to sled.

If you watch the local news it will usually show something like NYC 1 to 3", suburbs 3 to 5" and north/west 6 to 8". Bear Mountain is usually included in that north and west area that gets more snow. So - just hop in the car (or rent one) and drive up.

Nuut

We went skiing this weekend at Mount Peter. A small friendly not too epensive ski resort about an hour from Manhattan. It did not snow recently, but they make snow and we had lots of fun. Still need to show the kids that snow man though !!!