My family is looking for a location in the Northeast where we can rent a cabin for Christmas week in the mountains. We would like to be in the mountains and near skiing but also close enough to NYC to take a train into the city for a day. Anybody have any suggestions for areas that fit the bill?

THANK YOU!!!

Emily

Lookup Camelback, PA

Belleayre (sp?) Mountain in the Catskills is a popular and nearby to NYC ski area. But I don't know about getting a train from there - there are buses from the area, though.

If you google Belleayre Mountain - you will get links to lots of cottages and the like that are near the ski area.

Sorry Belleayre is not really practical for a day trip to NYC - except perhaps a very long day by car. The nearest train is more than an hour away. And the bus trips - which are something like $70 per person - are for people going out to the resort to ski for the day - not into the city.

Driving to the city is about 3 hours each way. And if you drive to the nearest train station (Rhinecliff) that will take about an hour plus 2 hours on the train.

I'm not at all sure there are places with decent skiing close enough to NYC for day trips - certainly not in New Hampshire or Vermont (those are long trips from NYC even for a Fri/Sun weekend).

Hunter and Windham in NY are probably the closest decent size ski areas and I know there are buses that will take you up there but even they are two hours from Manhattan.

The ski areas are a little smaller but perhaps you should consider the Poconos in PA....they should be about 90 minutes from Manhattan.

A little further than Windham and Hunter, and a bit more rustic with no city day-trippers (too far for a day trip), is Gore Mountain. There is lodging info on their website. Years ago we used to rent little cabins there. They all were on private property where the owners had their own home, then 1 or 2 cabins to rent. My kids enjoyed having a 'backyard' to play in the snow. At one rental the owners had kids, a dog and sled and my kids enjoyed playing with them. There's not much up there, but if you are looking for peace and quiet in the mountains, this is the place. Hunter is a bit of a zoo (LOTS of day-trippers). I don't think Windham is as bad, but still a bit overrun on busy weekends and much smaller than Hunter.

Camelback is a smaller mountain and gets many daytrippers from NJ.

We've also stayed at Hotel Vienna near Windham on a few occasions and enjoyed staying there. They serve cookies and hot chocolate when you return from skiing, there's an indoor pool, a tv/game lounge and it includes breakfast. It was very family friendly and there are some good restarants nearby.

I just noticed the part about the train into the city. That would be a stretch from Gore. I guess from the Hunter/Windham area you could drive to one of thr metro north train stations to commute into Manhattan.

How much snow will these mountains have before XMas? It will not be much and may only be 1 or 2 trails. That is something you need to consider.

If you're looking in the Catskills (Hunter, Wyndham, or Bellayre), there is regular bus service from Kingston to NYC. 2hr ride, mid week same day round trip $36.00. www.trailwaysny.com.

You'll need a car if you have a cabin for the week, so I would just drive to NYC myself. You could also drive to Kingston to catch the bus.

You could also consider the Berkshires in Mass. - i.e. Jiminy Peak. Roughly equidistant from NYC as the Catskills & would require a car. Southern VT may have more/better snow (significant natural snow is rare anywhere by Christmas). It'd be too far for day trip to NYC but better skiing.

tchoiniere, all of these mountains have extensive snow making equipment & will have most of the trails open, not just 1-2.

Christmas week is an important week - they will be open and have man made snow.

I forgot about Jiminy. They also have nice condos on the mountain, but I think you need to book well in advance.

I wouldn't be too sure about skiing in Camelback for Christmas. You might have to choose between good skiing and being close enough for a day trip to the city.