14 of the Coziest Small Mountain Towns to Visit This Winter

Mad River Glen not only sounds crazy great, it pretty much is crazy great. Surrounded by country roads and long vistas, this is the ski mountain that the industrial resort complex forgot. Or couldn't get to: instead the mountain operations are owned by a cooperative of Yankee skiers, determined to keep out the glamour. What you'll find instead are spectacular ski runs and little Warren and Waitsfield, the kind of quaint New England towns—a general store and a covered bridge, for goodness sake!— that Disney uses for inspiration.

One of the many reasons families love skiing at Taos Ski Valley is that around half of the runs are rated blue or green so even with all that steep terrain and fresh powder, beginning and intermediate skiers get some variety. One of the other attractions is the scenic town of Taos itself with traditional adobe architecture and inviting alleyways lined with its art galleries, cafés and shops. The area's rich culture—the extraordinarily beautiful Taos Pueblo and the much-photographed church at Rancho de Taos—is a year-round draw but the intoxicating perfume of piñon wood smoke is distinctly a cold-weather treat.

While it's technically a region and not a single town, the Lake Tahoe area is still a magical winter destination. Some people come for the skiing (there's lots of it: Northstar, Heavenly, Homewood, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood), some people come for the gambling or outlet shopping, or to snowshoe, or even take to the ice at an elevation of 8,200 feet at the Olympic complex in Squaw Valley. What's the unifying experience for all these diverse people? Pausing, gratefully, to take in the view of the impossibly blue lake surrounded by snowy, pine-tree-studded slopes. Divine.

Legend has it that a bunch of snow-starved Washington D.C. residents overheard airline pilots discussing one mountainside in the region that stayed snowy all winter. This eavesdropping lead them on a hunt for the mysterious location, which was Canaan Valley in the Allegheny Mountains, an area dotted by waterfalls and backcountry trails. Now a state park, Canaan Valley (pronounced Kuh-NAYN) has a sprawling resort area that offers seasonal skiing, snow-tubing, sledding, Nordic ski trails as well as hotels, cabin rentals, shops and restaurants scattered through the valley and in ­nearby Davis. Get on top of the slopes and get a load of the 360-degree spectacular panorama of rolling hills.

Cross a college town with a ski town and sprinkle in some wild, wild west flavor and you'll end up with lovely Bozeman. Bridger Bowl and Big Sky resorts provide the enduring thrill of Montana powder while in town you'll find international cuisine, an independent bookshop with sofas, and a booming art scene. Just a couple of hours south, you can even sneak a peek at the only corner of Yellowstone, a particularly magical one, that remains accessible to cars all winter.

You won't be able to ignore the fact that the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics were held in this Adirondack hamlet, not just because of the lingering pride, but because a frighteningly high ski jump run is visible from every street in town. In addition to skiing Whiteface Mountain, or taking a thrill ride down the bobsled or luge run, you can skate on Olympic ice rinks (even the arena where the Miracle on Ice was played) or take a curling lesson or snowshoe a quiet birch-lined trail. Accommodations range from high-end lodge resorts to family-run motels and shops carrying Adirondack-style furniture and gifts can keep you busy après-ski.

Don't come to this part of Arizona looking for sand dunes and cactus. Flagstaff instead offers mountains and ponderosa pine forests and some subtle landscape hints of the Grand Canyon, just an hour's drive north of town. The local ski resort, Arizona Snowbowl, is twenty minutes from town on Humphreys Peak, the state's highest mountain.  As with all ski areas, much depends on the weather, but Snowbowl averages around 150 snowfall inches a year. Flagstaff is a college town with Route 66 neon and flavor, so you'll find bars and cafés, bookstores and galleries, and even a chance to visit the Lowell Observatory.

Winter in the Rockies is, of course, good. Winter in this particular Rocky Mountains hamlet is great. Great skiing, great hot air balloon rides over the valley, great dog-sledding through the woods, great sleigh rides across the snowfields, and you can even soak in a natural hot spring while the snow falls around you.  

Can you even discuss winter weekends without mentioning mittens? Boyne Falls is at the top of the Michigan mitten and offers some of the most reliable snow in the Midwest.  The two skiable mountains catch all the winter weather coming off Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, refreshing the powder on the slopes and terrain parks. If there's too much weather, you can slip away to the indoor water park or head into Boyne City, a historic downtown district that welcomes visitors year round. You'll find plenty of candy shops, restaurants, breweries, boutiques, bakeries and bookstores along Water Street and Lake Street to distract you.