Camp Under The Snow travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Although it is colder and windier outside, but the air is crisper, the views clearer, the animal tracks easier to see. While most of us wait the summer period for a well-organized camping, for hikers, skiers and snowshoers to camp outside during the winter is the best part. There are five spots in the Northeast America ideal for the hardy lover of snow and cold. Accommodations range from lean-tos to campsites for your weather-ready tent, from modest cabins to rustic lodges. The first of five wonderlands for winter camping is in north-central Maine. And there are cabins equipped with gas or kerosene lamps and wood stoves. There are a main lodge, where meals are served, a bunkhouse and seven cabins, each with a wood stove. 

Cardigan Lodge is the second one, also owned by the mountain club. There are about 50 miles of trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The lodge is heated in winter and has 13 students rooms that sleep two to six. The third one is just on two hours north of New York City in the expanse of woods and a conservation group, recommends a part of the Appalachian Trail to cross-country skiers and snowshoers that offers a big climb, a big descent and a big river. Campsite are both official Appalachian Trail campsites and are free to use on a first-come first-served basis.

The next one is Stokes State Forest, which has panoramic vistas, as well as winter activities like ice fishing, ice skating, sledding, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Stokes is four miles north of Branchville, virtually at the northernmost tip of the state. Some of the park’s 51 tent and trailer sites are open all year and have fire rings and picnic tables. To the south, Outdoor Center in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area offers cabins and tent sites year round. This 70,000-acre area features cross-country skiing at Blue Mountain Lakes, downhill skiing at Shawnee Mountain Ski Area and ice climbing at the Delaware Water Gap. Photos by: Lori Duff