More Summer Family Fun Arrives at New England Ski Resorts

Mt. Washington Valley, New England, Resorts, Smugglers' Notch, Vermont No Responses »

May 282011

Giant Swing at the new Mt Cranmore Adventure Park in New Hampshire's Mt. Washington Valley

For a number of years, New England’s ski resorts have been investing in a wide range of attractions and activities designed to encourage families to visit all year round. This summer, there seems to be an emphasis on attractions of interest to families with teens and tweens at some of our favorite New England summer destinations. If you are heading to New Hampshire’s White Mountains this summer be sure to check out the new Adventure Park at Mount Cranmore in the Mount Washington Valley. In Vermont, Smugglers’ Notch is adding a number of new summer adventure options and jazzing up its day camp and evening programs for teens and tweens.

Mt. Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park Opens Memorial Day Weekend

The new Mt. Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park opened Memorial Day weekend. It offers plenty of action and thrills to keep teens and tweens busy all day. These include:

Disc golf and chair lift rides at Mt Cranmore

An Aerial Adventure Park with a high ropes course through the trees that includes rope ladders, bridges, cargo nets and ziplines
A chairlift serviced Mountain Coaster which drops over 1300 feet at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour
A giant swing
Summer tubing
A Four Plex euro-style trampoline
An 18-hole disc golf course
Chairlift rides
Bounce houses and more

A wide range of ticket options and combo passes are available on the Cranmore web site. Reservations are recommended for scheduled 3-hour sessions in the Aerial Adventure Park. Stay and Play lodging and ticket packages are also available for a number of area hotels including the Red Jacket Inn, home to the an indoor water park!

Smugglers’ Notch Updates Teen and Tween Activities

Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch resort is well known for its teen and tween winter programs. The resort has long offered summer days camps and evening programs for kids, teens and tweens as well, but this year they are updating the options for teens including:

Segway tour at Smugglers' Notch

Introducing Adventure Connection family packages that include outings like the Arbotrek zip line course, llama treks, canoeing or kayaking, and a Segway tour.
Adding an outdoor, high-definition video screen measuring 12×19 feet that will be set up for Big Screen Night for teens on Thursdays at 9 pm, under the stars.
Continuing to offer night time teen and tween parties — such as the glow in the dark night programs with a DJ dance party and glow in the dark ping pong— as well as late night swims at the Courtside Pool, evening teen gatherings at the indoor FunZone, and a nightime dodgeball tournament.

Of course, in addition to all the man-made attractions, New England’s four-season ski resorts continue to feature beautiful scenery and lots of opportunities to take day hikes in the mountains. If you go, let us know what you think of these newest summer activities for teens and tweens in the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont.

Photos courtesy of the resorts

Best New Hampshire Ski Resorts for Families with Teens

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Dec 032010

Ski New Hampshire, courtesy Omni Mt Washington Resort

Our checklist for picking the best ski resorts for families with teens includes a lodging set-up that allows teens a fair amount of independence and a range of on and off slope options for everyone in the group. We found the following three resorts that fill the bill in New Hampshire.

Omni Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods

The Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods is New Hampshire’s largest ski area with 464 acres of skiing and snowboarding on 102 trails and glades, four terrain parks and nine lifts. Located in the heart of the White Mountains’ Presidential Range, the scenery is spectacular and the choice of available activities is impressive.

Omni Mount Washington Winter Canopy Tour, courtesy Omni

There are no specific teen lesson programs but an innovative Family private lesson option pairs up to 5 family members of any age with 2 instructors for a one hour private lessons to get every one started or to brush up on skills. Teens 13 and older can participate in adult group or private lessons. The Terrain Parks offer lots of options for boarders. Teens age 13-17 get a $14 daily discount off of adult rates and additional ticket discounts are available to visitors staying at the resort.

Off the slopes the resort has 100 km of nordic trails and many other activities including family sleigh rides, snow tubing, dog sledding, and a 25, 000 square foot spa. Teens 16 and older can experience any spa service while younger teens and tweens can accompany parents for manicures, pedicures or hair services. New this year, the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour, provides one of the longest canopy tours in the U.S. including the Williwaw Racing Zipline. Together they allow you to get a view over the treetops from 150 feet up in the air.

The resort offers ski in/ski out condo rentals, a family friendly lodge, 34 rooms in the historic Bretton Arms Inn and 200 rooms and suites in the recently renovated grand Mount Washington Hotel.

Cranmore Mountain Resort

Located in North Conway in the heart of the Mount Washington Valley, the Cranmore Mountain Resort features a good size mountain with 2000 feet of elevation, 54 trails and 10 lifts. Teens age 13-17 get a $10 daily discount off of adult rates. Less expensive night tickets are available for skiing on Saturdays when there are fireworks and select school vacation times when the mountain stays open after dark.

In the parks at Cranmore Mountain Resort, courtesy John Webster

The area is compact enough that teens can navigate it on their own with buddies or make some new friends in the terrain parks. The 3 parks aptly named the Lucky Loop, the Other Side and the Darkside were designed by SPT, a group that also consults to the X games.

The resort has recently opened the twisting, turning Mountain Coaster sled on rails and expanded its popular snow tubing park to 10 lanes wide with lift service.

There are no condos right on the mountain but many lodging options are available very close by in the numerous hotels, inns, and condo rental complexes available in North Conway. Many have heated indoor pools and hot tubs available. Check the Resort’s web list of lodging partners – many will include free lift tickets, breakfast and other incentives in their stay and ski package promotions. Not a skier? Drop the teens at the mountain and head down the street to North Conway for lunch and tax-free shopping.

Waterville Valley

One of the closest big mountain ski areas to Boston, Waterville Valley resort is a self-contained outpost located in the White Mountain National Forest.

Waterville Valley

The mountain has vertical drop of 2,020 feet with 52 trails at all levels, including moguls, a half pipe and a superpipe. Overnight lodgings are not permitted within the National Forest but the base village hosts a range of condo, suites and hotel options is a short shuttle ride away. Teens age 13-17 get a $10 daily discount off of adult rates

The resort is not fancy and does not have mountain coasters or zip lines. However, the self-contained nature of the area and the short ride from Boston makes it a good option for a weekend getaway. We have found the lessons to be top notch. This is the resort where hockeyprincess learned to snowboard last winter and we expect to make a return visit this year.

Mountains Open Early This Year!

It is already shaping up to be a good ski season in New Hampshire as the temperatures are falling and the snow guns are going. Waterville Valley and Bretton Woods, as well as several others, were open for skiing on Thanksgiving and Cranmore has a good turnout for the opening of its Mountain Coaster. Whether you ski, snowboard, shop or go to the spa New Hampshire’s mountains make for a fun family winter getaway with teens and tweens.

White Mountains Vacations

Mount Washington Vally, NH in the Summer – We’ve Gotta Go Back

Best trip archives, Mt. Washington Valley No Responses »

Jul 182010

With only three days to visit the Mount Washington Valley, there were a lot of wonderful attractions and experiences that we had to defer to our next visit. In particular, we hope to return soon to ride the Mount Washington Cog Railwayto the top of Mount Washington, kayak or tube on the Saco river and check out the glacial caves and canyons at the Polar Caves, the Flume Gorge or the Lost River Gorge.

Cog Railroad, courtesy Bretton Woods Resort, NH

Like the ride up the Mount Washington Auto Road, the Cog Railway is a classic New England experience. They both take you to the summit of Mount Washington, but that is where the similarities end. Opened in 1869 the Cog hauls riders up the mountain using a rack-and-pinion rail system running on an average 25% grade (and as steep as 37% in some sections) to reach the summit. The original steam train ran using wood fuel until it was converted to coal in about 1910. In 2009, the majority of the engines were converted to bio-diesel, improving the air quality but eliminating the classic ash laden smokestack steam trail seen for miles across the Valley. The historic steam engines still run first thing in the morning and more often on busy days.

Tubing the Saco River, courtesy Bob Grant

Further down in the Valley, the Saco River originates at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch, flows through the Valley, along the New Hampshire – Maine border, and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. The stretch near Swan’s Falls and the southern end of North Conway is shallow and clear, with many small sandy beaches and lends itself to tubing, kayaking and canoes. A number of different outfitters such as Saco River Tubing, Northern Extremes, and Saco Bound offer a wealth of options from short rentals to all day and even overnight trips. Most put you in the water at their own private put-ins then haul out the boat and transport you back to your car from another private landing downstream when you are finished.

We also wished we had been able to explore some of the region’s geologic wonders such as scrambling through the Polar Caves, walking the 2-mile Flume Gorge trail to see a waterfall near Cannon Mountain or scampering across the bridges and trails of the granite strewn Lost River Gorge. As described by the Polar Caves web site, “about fifty thousand years ago the third continental glacier descended over New Hampshire’s White Mountains. When the ice retreated, it left behind an amazing series of caves and passageways for visitors to explore”. All of three of these sites are testimony to the power of Mother Nature.

We were thrilled to see that all three of these natural wonders, along with the Cog Railway, are covered by the White Mountains Attractions pass. The White Mountains Attractions pass program provides discounted one-time access to 16 major area attractions including the Mount Washington Auto Road, Attitash Summer Attractions and the Wildcat Mountain Express Gondola Skyride.

Thanks Again

One last time, we want to thank the the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce for organizing our weekend of activities and providing us with the opportunity to conduct our in depth review series. Travel with Teens and Tweens retained full control over everything we wrote about our trip and all opinions are truly our own.

To find links to all our Mount Washington Valley Summer 2010 reviews check out the links on our Mount Washington Valley Top 10 – Summer Edition landing page.

Waterfall Hikes in the Mount Washington Valley, NH

Best trip archives, Mt. Washington Valley, New England 1 Response »

Jul 112010

Waterfall Hikes in the Mount Washington Valley, NH

The Mount Washington Valley, NH is home to a large number of waterfalls. Many are accessible via short to moderate hikes via well marked trails. If you visit the region, be sure to take time to visit at least one of these wonders. We selected the moderately challenging hike to New Hampshire’s tallest waterfall, 200 foot Arethusa Falls in Crawford Notch State Park. Since we were there in June the falls were very active although we have been told that later in the summer they can slow to a trickle. The well used, heavily shaded trail runs 1.3 miles from the upper parking lot to the falls. It is a gradual uphill hike almost the whole way, except for a steep downhill section in the last quarter mile. Although we [...]

Teens Love Mount Washington Valley, NH Shopping

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Jul 102010

Teens Love Mount Washington Valley, NH Shopping

As any parent of teenage girls knows, shopping is always at the top of the list when it comes to vacation activities. Our teen was not disappointed with the range of shopping options available in North Conway and the surrounding towns of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley. Shopping in the Mount Washington Valley breaks down into two distinct experiences: The large direct manufacturer and name brand outlets clustered at the southern end of Route 16 in North Conway. The outlet area is anchored by Settlers’ Green Outlet Village, but is also well supported by large LL Bean, Eastern Mountain Sports and other destination outlets on both sides of the highway. A number of chain restaurants and hotels round out the outlet area. The small, eclectic shops found in the [...]

Alpine Slide and More Teen Fun at Attitash Mountain in Summer

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Jul 062010

Alpine Slide and More Teen Fun at Attitash Mountain in Summer

Attitash Mountain in Bartlett, NH was one of the early pioneers in a turning ski area into a four season vacation destination. Thirty years ago, the mountain introduced the Alpine Slide. This Mount Washington Valley classic has been ridden by generations and is still as much fun today as it was when it first opened. Such a simple idea - careening way too fast down the mountain on a 2-mile concrete track riding a plastic sled controlled by a hand brake! Definitely sounds goofy, but this was one White Mountain attraction that mom, dad and teen all wanted to do many times. Be warned – taller riders need to watch their knees on those banked turns! The Alpine Slide is just the starting point. A $35 all day Attitash Summer Attractions day pass [...]