Winter is the season this address quietly earns its keep. On a lot of ski trips the day becomes a shuttle back and forth between your lodging and the lifts, in the cold and often in the dark, with numb feet at both ends. Here Loon Mountain is 6 min from the door, so the drive in ski boots barely counts as a drive. You can catch a full day on the mountain, be back before your feet have thawed, and swap the base-lodge crowds for a fireplace and a TV-free suite made for unwinding. The warm, still hour after the skiing is often the best part of the day, and this is a place built around it.
Skiing is not the whole of a Lincoln winter, either. A few minutes south in North Woodstock, the seasonal Ice Castles turn a field into a glowing world of ice tunnels and caverns when the cold cooperates long enough to build them. Add a snowy scenic drive, a slow brewery lunch, an afternoon of snowshoeing or cross-country skiing when your legs want a break from the lifts, and long fireside evenings, and a two- or three-night weekend fills itself without much planning.
We tell winter guests to book a couple of nights, watch the forecast, and hold their plans loosely once they are here, letting the snow decide which mountain to ski on which day and which evening to save for the fire. Nothing in this itinerary is far, so you can change your mind at breakfast and lose nothing but a little sleep.
The season runs roughly late December through March, with the deepest and most reliable snow in January and February. Early- and late-season weekends can be excellent or thin depending on the year, so check conditions before you commit, and come knowing that a White Mountains winter brings real weather: cold snaps, wind on the high peaks, and the occasional storm that reshapes a day. Planning around it is part of the trip, and it is easier to do from 6 min away than from an hour down the road.
Day 1 — Arrive and settle in
The first evening is for landing softly, not for doing much.
Afternoon · Check in and warm the room
Keyless check-in matters most in January. There is no waiting around in a wet coat for a key; your door code arrives the day before arrival, once your check-in form and payment are complete, and you let yourself straight into the warm. Check-in is at three in the afternoon, and you park for free right outside the house, so the walk from car to room is short even with an armful of gear.
Drop the bags, switch on the electric fireplace if your suite has one, and let the room warm up while you sort out layers and boots for the morning. If you are rolling in late after a long drive or a storm, the code works the same at nine at night as it does at three in the afternoon, which is one less thing to worry about when the weather has slowed you down.
Evening · Dinner close to the lodge
Keep the first night simple and close. Basecamp Brewing, the Lincoln brewery that spent years as One Love before it rebranded, sits in the Mills Marketplace, brews its own beer, and runs a full kitchen; it is an easy, unfussy stop a few minutes from the house. A little farther south in North Woodstock, the Woodstock Inn Station and Brewery serves a dependable, casual menu alongside its own beer, with its restaurant set in a restored former railroad station.
Either one makes a good cold-weather first night. On a winter weekend or a holiday week both fill up, so it is worth calling ahead for a table rather than turning up at seven on a Saturday. Then it is home to the fire and an early night, because the reason to be this close to Loon is to make the most of a full mountain day tomorrow.
Day 2 — A full day on Loon
A full day on the mountain, 6 min away, with a night on the ice to follow if the cold cooperates.
Morning · Ski or ride Loon Mountain
6 min east, Loon is the closest major ski area to the lodge and typically runs from late November into April, snow depending. It spreads across three peaks linked by chairlifts and New Hampshire's longest gondola skyride, with a broad range of terrain, from wide groomed cruisers that suit riders and intermediates to steeper pitches for stronger skiers. Its snowmaking reaches nearly the whole mountain, so the base holds up even in a thin natural-snow year. On weekends the first chair spins early, around eight in the morning, with weekdays starting a little later, so a weekend gives you the longest possible day if you want it.
First chair to early afternoon is the sweet spot: the light is good, the crowds are lighter early, and because the drive back is so short you are never committing to a long, grueling day if you do not feel like one. Buy lift tickets ahead of time. Winter weekends and holiday periods sell out, and buying online ahead of the day costs less than the window. Park at the main base area, where the Adventure Center across the road serves as the hub for most of the non-alpine activity.
Afternoon · Warming up and other winter activities
The short drive home is the advantage of skiing from here. You can duck back to the room mid-afternoon while the light is still good, thaw out, and then decide whether you are done for the day or heading back up for a few more runs. Coming back warm and unhurried, rather than skiing the lifts down to the last chair, is the version of a ski day we build the whole stay around.
If someone in your group does not downhill ski, or your legs are finished, there is a full second menu at Loon. The Adventure Center runs a groomed cross-country and snowshoe network on the East Ridge, following old logging roads along the snow-covered Pemigewasset River, from flat and gentle track to longer climbing loops. The same center rents snowshoes, runs an ice skating rink and an indoor climbing wall, and operates lift-served snow tubing into the evening. Guests often ask about skiing under the lights: Loon does not run night skiing on its alpine trails, so tubing after dark is the closest thing on offer, and it is easy, low-stakes fun a mixed group can all do together.
With more than one ski day in hand, it is worth splitting your time across mountains. Cannon Mountain, about 16 min north in Franconia Notch, is a different character altogether: steeper, more exposed, and known for natural snow and a serious fall line that reward confident skiers, especially on a cold, clear morning after fresh snow. Its aerial tramway was retired in 2025 and no reopening date has been announced, but the ski area runs normally and skiers reach the summit by chairlift this winter. Waterville Valley sits a bit farther south off Interstate 93 at Exit 28 and rounds out the picture for families and intermediates, a gentler mountain of a little over two hundred and sixty acres. If the forecast turns warm, gray, or windy, lean back toward Loon, the most sheltered and dependable of the three and the one you can reach in 6 min.
Evening · The Ice Castles in North Woodstock
When the winter has been cold enough to build them, the seasonal Ice Castles in North Woodstock are worth the short drive after dark. The attraction is sculpted fresh from ice each year into tunnels, archways, and caverns lit with color-changing LEDs, with an illuminated walk through the trees, a tubing hill, sleigh rides, and an ice bar serving warm drinks and winter cocktails for the adults. It is a slow, unhurried hour outside in the cold, which is exactly the point of it.
It is entirely weather-dependent and sells timed, dated tickets, so confirm it is open and reserve before you build an evening around it; in a mild year it may open late or not at all. If it is not running, an evening fills easily with dinner in town and a fireside nightcap back at the house, which is where the day ends either way.
Day 3 — A slower last day
A gentler morning, at whatever pace you want, before the drive home.
Morning · A slower morning in the snow
The last morning does not have to be a full ski day. Take a half day on Loon, snowshoe a quiet trail, or point the car at a snowy scenic drive and call it enough. The cross-country and snowshoe options at Loon are open to a walk-up, and the flat sections of the Franconia Notch recreation path see some ungroomed ski and snowshoe use when they are snow-covered, though they are not a maintained track and conditions vary from day to day.
If you park at a White Mountain National Forest trailhead to snowshoe, you need a recreation pass, currently five dollars for the day or thirty for the year, and it is easiest to sort out before you go rather than at a snowy kiosk. Give any winter trail respect: daylight is short in these months, and what is a simple walk in good conditions can turn serious quickly in wind or fresh snow, so keep the ambition modest on a last morning with a drive ahead of you.
The Kancamagus Highway starts at the end of our street and looks like a scenic shortcut on the map, but treat it carefully in winter. It is a thirty-four-mile byway with no gas, no services, and no cell signal along its length, climbing to a height of land around 2,855 feet where the weather is always a step worse than it is in town. It is kept plowed as a through-road when conditions allow, but many of the overlook lots are not cleared and the pass runs cold and blustery. Drive it for the drive itself, in good conditions only, and not as a stop-and-explore day this time of year.
Late morning · Checkout and the road home
Checkout is at ten and as easy as arriving, with the same keyless code and no line to wait in. Clear the snow off the whole car, roof included, before you head down the far side of any hill, and give yourself more time than the map suggests: winter can add an hour or more to the drive south, and the last stretch of Interstate 93 climbs into weather the flatlands never see.
From Boston it is roughly a hundred and thirty miles and two to two and a quarter hours in normal conditions, straight down Interstate 93 to Exit 32 with a single toll at Hooksett. A storm changes that math, so watch the forecast, leave a margin, and drive on proper snow tires rather than all-seasons if you can. If you flew in, Manchester's airport is the closer option, about an hour out, and it saves you the busiest stretch of the drive; Boston Logan is farther, roughly two and a quarter hours in good conditions.
Where to stay for this trip
In winter the room is half the trip, so book one built to come back to. Hancock has an electric fireplace in the king bedroom and a full sitting room for spreading out boots and layers at the end of a cold day, and Notch has a pair of leather lounge chairs to sink into. Artist Bluff has its own private entrance off the back deck, which is a real convenience when you are hauling ski gear in and out and would rather not cross a lobby to do it.
If a soak after a cold day out is the priority, ask about the Basin suite instead: it has a two-person jetted tub, which is about the most direct answer there is to a day on an exposed mountain. Artist Bluff and Kinsman have a Keurig for the thawing-out hour, the coffee lounge covers the rest, and five of the six suites have no television, by design, so the evening stays quiet and unhurried instead of defaulting to a screen. The best rate is always the one you book direct, so reserve with us rather than through a third-party site.
Before you go
Loon runs roughly late November into April. Exact dates move with the snow, so check the resort's hours before you come, and buy lift tickets online ahead of time for weekends and holidays, when they sell out and cost more at the window.
Cannon's aerial tramway is closed. It was retired in late 2025 for replacement, and no reopening date has been announced. The ski area itself operates normally, and skiers reach the summit by chairlift this winter, so you can still ski Cannon, or ski Loon 6 min away.
The Ice Castles are seasonal and weather-built. They open only in a cold enough winter, sell timed dated tickets, and sit in North Woodstock a few minutes south. Confirm they are running and reserve before you plan a night around them.
Winter driving here is serious. The Kancamagus stays plowed as a through-road, but the overlook lots often are not, and the height of land runs windy and icy. Carry proper winter tires, watch the forecast, and give the mountain roads room.
Bring a national-forest parking pass if you plan to snowshoe. Parking at a White Mountain National Forest trailhead costs five dollars for the day or thirty for the year; buy it ahead so you are not sorting it out at a cold kiosk.
Reserve dinner on weekend nights. Lincoln and North Woodstock fill up on winter weekends and holiday weeks, and the good kitchens in town take bookings, so call ahead rather than hoping for a table at seven on a Saturday.
Plan the drive with winter in mind. From Boston it is about a hundred and thirty miles and two to two and a quarter hours up Interstate 93 to Exit 32, with one toll at Hooksett; a storm can add an hour or more on the final climb. Manchester's airport is the closer fly-in option, roughly an hour out, with Boston Logan about two and a quarter hours away.
Sources & official info: loonmtn.com · icecastles.com · cannonmt.com
— Launchpoint Lodge, From the lodge
