The main lodge at Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch/Courtesy photo
What's your ideal place to stay for a wintry escape into the National Park System? Is it a cozy cabin with fireplace and ample wood, or perhaps something in a warmer climate with views of sun-kissed turquoise waters? Or does your desire lie somewhere in-between?
Fortunately, the park system is large and diverse. Finding that perfect home-away-from-home for a winter adventure may come down to deciding if you like it cold and snowy, or hot and sandy. Here's a sampling of some of the possibilities:
Graycote Inn, 207-288-3044
Though Acadia National Park typically is viewed as a sublime summer destination, winter is just as spectacular. Snowstorms can blanket the park's carriage roads with enough fluff for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Ice-covered cliffs draw climbers, and lodging rates are greatly reduced from their summer peaks.
The Frenchman Bay Room is the prized accommodation at the Graycote Inn/Courtesy photo
'Empty nesters in the current generation, people entering that phase, are much healthier and more active than the previous generation. Lots more. So there are lots of people that we see who had family vacations with the kids here at Acadia, but now they're empty nesters and can travel whenever they like, and they're active,' says Roger Samuel, who runs the Graycote Inn with his wife. 'For these people, going skiing or snowshoeing, that's an attractive idea.'
Though many lodges that ring Acadia close for the winter months, the Graycote Inn, with its 12 rooms, is one of a handful that remain open. The inn is just a five-minute walk from downtown Bar Harbor, where you'll find a half-dozen or so restaurants that are also open through the winter.
Travelers looking for a deal should consider the Inn's Frenchman Bay Room ($205 in summer, $120 in winter), with its king-size canopy bed, deep armchairs to relax with a book after dinner, a private bath, and fireplace. Before heading out in the morning, take advantage of the Inn's hot breakfast, which comes with your room.
Chisos Mountains Lodge, 800-392-9004
Winter is the high season at Big Bend National Park, and if you've ever visited during summer's high heat you understand why. If you're looking to escape snow and cold, this West Texas destination is a great one to consider. Daytime highs typically clear 60 degrees, while nighttime lows settle in the mid-30s. You might find snow up high...if you're determined enough to take the trail from the visitor center to Emory Peak, which tops out at 7,832 feet, some 2,400 feet above the lodge.
The approach to the Chisos Mountain Lodge invites you to linger/Rebecca Latson
The Chisos Mountains Lodge is the only 'brick & mortar' lodging within park boundaries. A number of trails begin right at the lodge's parking lot, including the famous Window Trail. The lodge features 72 rooms and cottages ($132-$152), including the VIP Roosevelt Stone Cottage ($173).
Interested in history? Many of the cottages were built in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps crews. Wildlife ' black bears, mountain lions, and the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat ' call the park home. Birders should plan on a late-winter visit. Beginning around Valentine's Day in February, the Colima warbler shows up from its Mexican haunts to nest in the deep grasses that underlie the park's stands of oak, maple, and pinion pine.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Stone Canyon Inn, 866-489-4680
The lodge at Bryce Canyon National Park is shuttered in winter, which is a shame as coatings of snow create some of the year's most magical displays in this park nature has eroded from the Aquarius Plateau. But you have alternatives, such as the Stone Canyon Inn.
Located in Tropic, Utah, at the base of Bryce Canyon's colorful Bristlecone Ridge and just seven miles from the park entrance, the inn offers cottages and bungalows that offer solitude in a towering red-rock landscape. There's even a guest house for large groups.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a contrast of colors in winter/Kurt Repanshek
When heavy snows strike, you can snowshoe right onto the park's Fairyland Loop Trail from the inn's grounds. A short two-mile drive takes you to the Tropic Trailhead that will let you hike or snowshoe, depending on snowfall, the park's Peek-A-Boo Loop and Navajo trails.
Innkeeper Dixie Burbidge keeps a stock of snowshoes on hand for guests.
For cross-country enthusiasts, trails leading from the park's 18-mile-long Rim Road atop the canyon provide many options. The Rim Trail between Bryce Point and Fairyland Point offers sweeping views while you ski. Just don't forget to keep an eye on the trail. While most restaurants in the area close for the winter, the four cottages at Stone Canyon Inn offer full kitchens, as well as hot tubs, while the smaller bungalows offer refrigerators and microwaves. Rates range from $175-$250 per night through December, and then $125-$150 a night through February.
Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia
Greyfield Inn, 866-401-8581
Ocean breezes, rich history, and wildlife greet you at Greyfield Inn, a 1900 mansion built by Thomas and Lucy Carnegie for their daughter, Margaret Ricketson. Reached by ferry from Fernandina Beach, Florida, the inn with its flare for Southern hospitality offers 10 guest rooms and six additional rooms in two nearby cottages that constitute the only overnight lodging on Cumberland Island National Seashore.
The inn is expensive, with rates ranging from $425 to $635 per night, single or double occupancy, with a two-night minimum required. Additional persons are $275 per night per person. Holidays require a three-night minimum. Rates do include three meals daily. Some rooms offer visitors expansive views of salt marshes that often draw some of the island's feral horses. Fires kept burning in the living and dining rooms offset winter's chill on this barrier island.
Activities include bicycling, kayaking, hiking, nature tours, and strolls along one of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the country. Ruins of Thomas Carnegie's mansion, Dungeness, are at the south end of the island.
After dinner, or during a blustery day, you might simply want to relax with a book in the Inn's library, or perhaps schedule a massage.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina
Hidden Creek Cabins, 888-333-5881
Winter isn't any reason to avoid Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Bugs are gone, as are most of the crowds. Hiking trails that pull you into this mountainous landscape remain open, though they might require you to add snowshoes or cross-country skis to your gear list.
With average daily high temperatures near 50 degrees through the winter months, the hiking conditions couldn't be much better. And with leaves off the trees, the panoramas present a view of the park not seen during summer.
Though there's no in-park lodging in winter, numerous rental cabins are scattered across the mountains and in their valleys. Hidden Creek Cabins out of Bryson City, North Carolina, offers cabins down low near creeks, or higher up with stellar views. How close are the cabins to Great Smoky? Well, a dozen are within a half-mile of a park entrance. In other words, a short walk away.
Most Hidden Creek Cabin rentals are a short walk from Great Smoky Mountains National Park/Hidden Creek Cabins
All come with outdoor hot tubs, gas log or wood-burning fireplaces and great views, either along a creek or from a mountainside.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Volcano House Hotel, 866-536-7972
Though the seasons bring little outward change to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a retreat from the cold and snow of North America to this Pacific island outpost offers a wonderful thaw, if only for a short time. Lodges within a national park often are known for their history, rustic ambiance, and location, and the Volcano House Hotel is no different.
It's a beautiful, 33-room hotel sitting at the edge of Kilauea Caldera; the view extends across an a'a and pahoehoe lava field, and the smoking Halema'uma'u Crater, home of the fire goddess Pelehonuamea (Pele). This historic hotel got its start, humbly, in 1846 as a grass hut. In 1866, though, it was transformed into a four-bedroom hotel. In 1891 a larger, more substantial hotel was built, though it would later burn down. The replacement, built in 1941, has been recently renovated with modern upgrades while keeping its 1941 ambience.
You can walk or drive out to the Kilauea Crater, or enjoy the view from the hotel's sunroom/Rebecca Latson
This location is so incredible that you can enjoy the mesmerizing red-orange glow of the crater at night from the back of the hotel. Trails wend their way from the hotel to the caldera; if you don't want to walk, motor down the Crater Rim Drive.
You can reserve a room with a view of the crater ($285-$385), or, if you prefer to rough it, the concession offers 16 campsites plus 10 fairly rustic cabins ($80/night, communal bathhouses, outdoor BBQ grills) located just outside of the park boundaries.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, Wyoming
Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch, 800-443-2311
Walkways tying cabins to the main lodge here are lined by walls of snow that grow taller with each passing snowstorm. 'Cold smoke' fogs are stoked by the numbing Rocky Mountain temperatures. Stars seem so close you can reach out and touch them. Those are just some of the aspects of a winter stay at this base camp situated between two iconic parks ' Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
The ranch, located on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, is just a few miles south of Yellowstone. It's surrounded by forests buried in deep, dry powder, perfect for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Ski or snowshoe out your cabin door at Headwaters Lodge/Courtesy photo
This winter marks the first time in a decade that the scenic way station has been open for guests. The Grand Teton Lodge Company, which also manages the Jackson Lake Lodge and Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton, oversees the 92 cabins ($190-$275/ night) you'll find here. Take a day to ski tour along the Grassy Lake Road that runs between the Parkway and Yellowstone, or you can kick-and-glide or skate up to and through Yellowstone's South Entrance for the day.
If the urge strikes, you can even spend a day in Yellowstone with a snowmobile tour. Come nightfall, head into the main lodge building to warm up in front of the fireplace, before dining in Sheffield's Restaurant and Bar.
Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands
Concordia Eco-Resort, 800-392-9004
You're already off the grid when you head to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virgin Islands National Park. Head to Concordia Eco-Resort, and you complete the escape.
Though located just 11 miles from Cruz Bay (but 45 minutes away via the island's steep, twisting, turning, narrow roads), the resort is light years away from the hectic pace of the world you left behind. The white sand beaches and colorful waters of Saltpond Bay are just a 15-minute walk down a tropical hillside. Paradise doesn't get much better.
Your accommodations will fit a budget too. For $195 a night you can call home an 'Eco Tent' that sleeps five ' that's $40 a night for you and four friends ' and offers partial ocean views and a 2-burner propane stove and kitchen supplies. Or you can go whole hog at $305 a night for an Ocean Queen for two or three people that has ocean views, full kitchen, and a wrapping balcony. (If you're aiming for a visit in December, February, or March, it's best to make your reservations a year out).
During peak season you can dine on the grounds for breakfast, Sunday brunch, and dinner at Cafe Concordia. In the off-season, stock up in Cruz Bay before heading for Concordia to whip up your own meals.
With Saltpond Bay so close, and Little and Great Lameshur bays just a bit further, some of the park's best snorkeling awaits you morning or afternoon. A short drive will take you into the heart of the national park with its trails. Reef Trail is a great half-day adventure, leading past petroglyphs and deserted sugar plantations. There also is a fresh-water pool at the resort, but you won't find any blue tangs, sergeant majors, or parrotfish in it.
The Caribbean Sea and Saltpond are both a short walk from Concordia/Courtesy photo
Comments
The US Virgin Island..Great National Park for the winter..Virgin Islands guide from a local..at
http://www.travelaskthelocals.yolasite.com
I agree with dburlison that the VI's would be great for the winter - Hawaii too. However, for those that want snow, don't forget Crater Lake National Park. See: http://explore.globalcreations.com/places/winter-at-crater-lake/ and for lodging, try: http://www.craterlakelodgingatcrystalwoodlodge.com/
Pathfinder, if we have advertising programs at the Traveler, and discourage disguising ads in comments....don't hesitate to reach out to discuss our programs.