GoCampingAmerica.com | Posted November
    1st, 2014

    With Cold Fronts Moving In, Here Are
    Some Top Camping Locations for Winter Activities

    Happy Camper Blog

    As winter
    snows blanket much of the country, campgrounds are transformed into winter
    wonderlands. Some have their own unique onsite activities, such as
    sleigh rides, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing, while others serve as
    base camps for winter festivals or organize their own unique winter
    activities, which range from wine tastings and gourmet dinners to workshops
    in wilderness survival, winter sketching and winter
    photography.

    Sleigh Ride

    Sleigh Ride by Flickr user Martin
    Cathraeon.

    Winter activities at Thunder Bay Resort in Hillman,
    Mich.
    include Christmas sleigh rides, murder mystery weekends and
    wine lovers weekends. The resort also offers its winter visitors horse drawn
    carriage or sleigh rides to a scenic area where they can view a herd of
    Michigan elk as they ride to a scenic Elk Antler Cabin where guests can enjoy
    a warm fire and a delicious five-course meal prepared on century old wood
    stoves.

    Private horse drawn sleigh rides are also available at Winding River Resort in Grand Lake,
    Colo.
    , which also has a fleet of 70 snowmobile rentals that can be
    rented to anyone with a driver’s license. While the resort’s campsites are
    buried in snow in winter, the 8,800-foot park has heated rental cabins with
    bathrooms and kitchens.

    In the Northeast, Northern
    Outdoors Adventure Resort in The Forks, Maine
    , offers snowmobile
    rentals as well as log cabin rentals, as well as a full-service restaurant
    and microbrewery.

    Many areas of the country also have winter festivals, including
    Lake
    George Village, N.Y.
    , which starts its annual winter carnival with
    a New Year’s Day polar plunge in the lake. Most Lake George Winter Carnival
    activities take place in February, however, and include “outhouse races,” a
    crowd favorite, as well as dogsled, ATV and snowmobile races.

    Winter fun on frozen Lake George

    Winter fun on frozen Lake George by Flickr user diane
    cordell.

    Other unique winter campground destinations include the Terry Bison Ranch
    Resort in Cheyenne, Wyo.
    , which offers 45-minute train rides that
    take visitors to both photograph and feed the ranch’s bison herd. The resort
    also has a restaurant and bar, The Senator Steakhouse and Brass Buffalo
    Saloon, with burgers, salads and other unique dishes, including Rocky
    Mountain Oysters, buffalo burgers and bison meatball subs.

    Annie’s Campground in
    Gresham, Wis.
    , for its part, offers a full range of winter recreation
    activities, including snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and ice
    skating. The 155-acre campground has wide open spaces that are ideal for
    families that are learning how to use their snowmobiles. The campground also
    has two frozen ponds that are nearly an acre in size, which are perfect for
    ice fishing and ice skating.

    Mammoth Mountain

    Mammoth Mountain by Flickr user John
    Lemieux.

    The 125-site Mammoth
    Mountain RV Park in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
    is a busy base camp for
    downhill ski enthusiasts. The park, which has two rental cabins, features
    plowed RV sites with electrical hookups as well as a water filling station
    and dump station. Other amenities include restrooms with hot showers and an
    indoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi.

    Winter activities near Mammoth
    Mountain Ski Resort
    include moonlight snowshoe walks, dogsledding
    and snowmobiling.

    Another popular winter destination in the Sierra is Cisco
    Grove Campground and RV Park in Soda Springs, Calif.
    Located near
    Donner Pass, this park not only stays open through the winter, but rents
    snowmobiles and grooms 26 miles of snowmobile trails. The park also has a
    snow play area and snow tubing hill.

    Several Rocky Mountain campgrounds also accommodate downhill and
    cross-country ski enthusiasts, including Tiger Run Resort in
    Breckenridge, Colo.
    The resort, which includes RV sites as well as
    park model cabin rentals, often serves as a base camp for visitors who go to
    ski resorts in Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Vail and Beaver
    Creek.

    heading back

    Heading back by Flicker user Michelle Owner of the
    Squishy.

    Snowmobile, snow shoe and ice fishing enthusiasts also frequent
    Muddy Creek
    Cabins in Kremmling, Colo.
    The park has 10 rental cabins, each of
    which is equipped with bathrooms, kitchens and gas fireplaces.

    Denver area residents also enjoy visiting Jellystone
    Park Camp-Resort in Larkspur, Colo.
    , which offers cabin and park model
    rental accommodations as well as yurts. Onsite activities include sledding,
    ice skating and disc golf. The campground also has goats, which children can
    feed and interact with year round.

    Meanwhile, Junction
    West RV Park in Grand Junction, Colo.
    is open through the winter
    months, offering a base camp for RV enthusiasts who enjoy downhill skiing,
    cross country skiing and dog sledding activities nearby.