Taking the Kids: To Snowy Climes for Fun Off the Slopes

See the mountains and enjoy the snow without having to ski.

Crested Butte. Dreamstime/TCA

My family is out enjoying a rare ski day together in Crested Butte, Colorado. I’m watching the dogs.

It’s not that I don’t ski. I love the sport, especially on blue sky days. I just can’t this season as I’m still rehabbing from knee surgery. But I’m not feeling sorry for myself.

In mountain towns these days, even in tiny mountain towns such as Crested Butte (population 1,660), there is plenty to do off the slopes. And spring is a terrific time to visit with warmer temperatures and plenty of deals. For example, head to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and save up to $400 on airfare per person. Those holding Epic and Ikon passes can also get discounts on lodging.

In Crested Butte, I can take a stroll down Elk Avenue with brightly colored Victorian storefronts, restaurants, art galleries, shops, the Montoya Distillers known for their rum and mocktails, and even the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum. Elk Avenue is a nationally recognized historic district.

We went snowshoeing (that I could do) out to the Crested Butte Nordic Center for Sunday Brunch at the Magic Meadows Yurt.

I started thinking of all the things you can do in a mountain town these days off the slopes.

Enjoy some music. Subaru, which kicked off its WinterFest series at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont and at Copper Mountain in Colorado (Feb. 21), has free concerts and events upcoming at Sierra-at-Tahoe, California, Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, and Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. Bring your pooch. As part of Subaru’s commitment to being “More Than a Car Company,” Subaru will also be donating at WinterFest to select charities, including those supporting clothing for children in urgent need, avalanche rescue dogs, increased access to the outdoors, and more. You will find more aprés music this spring.

Soak in hot springs. Kids especially love the newly expanded Glenwood Hot Springs Resort (the world’s largest) with its Splash Zone. In Steamboat, Colorado, no visit is complete without time in Steamboat’s famous hot springs. Strawberry Hot Springs, in a picturesque Aspen grove about 15 minutes outside of town, has therapeutic waters up to 105 degrees. On the edge of downtown, Old Town Hot Springs is a family favorite with hot spring-fed pools and waterslides.

Visit Yellowstone in winter. It’s an easy trip from Big Sky Montana; most roads are closed, so you are limited to snowmobiles or snowcoaches. And then you can snowshoe, snowmobile, or cross-country ski, stop to see Old Faithful, and maybe see a bison or other wildlife. (Just don’t get too close.)

Hit the spa. My favorites include the newly renovated spa at the Four Seasons Vail, the big one at Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, and the Cliff Spa at Snowbird in Utah, just 45 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City. Other luxurious favorites include the Allegria Spa at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, The Spa at the Equinox in Vermont, Spa Montage at Montage Big Sky, Montana, and the Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe Spa. Even if you aren’t staying at one of these luxury hotels, you can book a spa day.

Race down multi-lane tubing hills from Big Bear Mountain Resort in California to Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia to Camelback Resort in Pennsylvania with more than 40 lanes and Magic Carpets to bring you back up to the top. Tube right through the world’s largest mountaintop snowfort at Keystone Resort in Colorado with sculptures and caves.

Snowshoeing in Crested Butte. Andy Yemma/TNS

Visit a museum, including the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame in Vail; the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe; the Aspen Art Museum; the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming; and the art museums in Taos, New Mexico, where you can also visit the Taos Pueblo. In Salt Lake City, where many stay when they want to sample several of Utah’s snow resorts, visit The Natural History Museum of Utah with its dinosaur skeletons and interactive exhibits, the Clark Planetarium, or Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum.

Check out the world’s largest Snow Fort Keystone Ski Resort, complete with caves, sculptures, and even a tubing hill that runs right through the fort. The nearby Summit House offers breakfast, lunch, and, of course, hot chocolate.

Snowmobile in Idaho with more than 7,200 groomed trails, the most in the West, and millions of acres of open land amid fantastic mountain views and frozen lakes.

Opt for a special dinner. Deer Valley, Utah, is known for its Fireside Dining (four-course buffet with everything cooked over an open fire at Empire Canyon Lodge) and their Cast & Cut Seafood buffet with interactive chef stations. Take a sleigh up the slopes to a mountainside dinner at Beano’s Cabin at Beaver Creek, Colorado; Haymaker Sleigh Ride Dinner at Steamboat; Two Below Zero Sleigh Rides (the kids will love the mules who drive the sleigh) in Frisco, Colorado; or Trail Creek Cabin in Sun Valley, Idaho.

There are also plenty of options for scenic sleigh rides—around Lake Tahoe, in New Hampshire at the Omni Mount Washington Resort, or at von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, where you can also learn the real story of how the von Trapps (yes, that family made famous by “The Sound of Music”) escaped Austria and ended up in Vermont.

But, of course, there’s also nothing wrong with cozying up by a fire with a good book.

Dear Readers: We would love to hear from you. What topics would you like to read about? Please send your feedback and tips to [email protected].