6 Destinations for Living Your Most Adventurous Life This Winter

Forecasters are calling for an extra-­snowy season for the Mid-Atlantic and much of the East Coast, and if just the talk of snowflakes has you dreaming of winter adventure, you’re not alone. We’ve pulled together a list of destinations for Arctic-inspired activities—some a quick weekend away, others requiring just a bit more travel. Whether it’s a thrilling off-road excursion you’re after, serene snowshoeing, or something in between, here are spots to check out this winter.

Canaan Valley Resort & Conference Center

Travel time from DC: Three hours by car.

Snowy highlight: Part of a state park in West Virginia, this year-round resort offers skiing, snow tubing, and ice skating, plus, for snowshoeing and cross-country-­skiing enthusiasts: more than 35 kilometers of marked and ungroomed trails (rentals for each are only $20).

Whiteface Lodge

Travel time from DC: Eight hours by car, or a 90-minute nonstop flight to Burlington, Vermont, then a two-hour drive.

Snowy highlight: This Lake Placid resort in New York’s Adirondacks has a rustic-meets-luxury aesthetic and offers onsite fun such as ice skating and a nightly campfire with s’mores, but it’s the offsite activities—which you can arrange with the concierge—that earn it a spot on our list. Nearby, there’s an Olympic sports complex bobsled ride, ice fishing, dogsledding, and a toboggan chute. The resort is also near skiing, ice skating, sleigh rides, and snowmobiling.

Omni Mount Washington Resort

Travel time from DC: 105-minute flight to Manchester, New Hampshire, then two hours by car.

Snowy highlight: Even in our bluster­i­est season, we don’t get snow here like they do up in New England, which is why we recommend a trip to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, for these attractions: a three-hour zipline canopy tour in New England, short but scenic gondola rides overlooking Mount Washington and the Presidential Range, and snowy rides on a horse-drawn sleigh. Not enough to fill your long weekend? There’s also skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and snowshoeing.

Snowshoe Mountain

Travel time from DC: Four and a half hours by car.

Snowy highlight: Known for its movie-­like mountaintop village, West Virginia’s Snowshoe is a popular destination for skiers, but for those seeking a different kind of ride, its off-roading adventures are another big reason to visit. There are evening and daytime snowmobiling tours as well as off-roading excursions in enclosed, four-seat ATV-like vehicles—including a jaunt through the forest to a private meal in a backcountry “hut.”

Wintergreen Resort

Travel time from DC: Three hours by car.

Snowy highlight: This Virginia resort offers more than two dozen trails for skiers of all levels, but perhaps an even bigger draw is its snow-tubing park, the largest in the state. Also: When there’s enough natural snow, the tot-focused Ridgley’s Fun Park opens with mini-­tubing for smaller kids.

Mohonk Mountain House

Travel time from DC: Five and a half hours by car.

Snowy highlight: Prefer an all-­inclusive winter wonderland? Rates at this resort in New York’s Hudson Valley include farm-to-table meals, plus cold-weather activities such as ice skating, tubing, and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. (If conditions for those aren’t right, they’ll provide spikes for your boots so you can go winter-trail hiking.) There’s also a heated indoor pool and an onsite spa.

This article appears in the January 2024 issue of Washingtonian.

Amy Moeller

Fashion & Weddings Editor

Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.