Discover 18 Midwest Winter Adventures
Come winter, it's easy to hibernate with a book by the fire. But locking yourself away just robs you of the season's stark beauty and serious fun. All it takes to get out there is an idea, a willingness and a couple of layers. We've taken care of the ideas. The rest, you can handle.
Hit the slopes
Don't think good skiing requires a long drive to the Rockies or New England. The Midwest claims its share of standout runs. Of northern Michigan's more than 20 resorts and ski areas, Crystal Mountain Resort (crystalmountain.com) in Thompsonville provides some of the best all-around skiing on 45 downhill runs, including the"black diamond" Lower Gorge, which is wired for racing timing. More than half the runs are lit for night skiing, and you can settle into first-class accommodations.
Marquette Mountain (marquettemountain.com), near Marquette on the North Shore of the Upper Peninsula, thrills even the extreme-skiing crowd with 600-foot verticals, a new backcountry area and the reopening of the aptly named "Free Fall" trail. Skiers find 22 runs at Sundown Mountain (sundownmtn.com) in Dubuque, Iowa. It hosts family skiing, black diamond runs and an acclaimed terrain park for snowboarders. For the Midwest's biggest hill, head to Granite Peak Ski Area (skigranitepeak.com) in Wausau, Wisconsin's, Rib Mountain State Park. A recent massive overhaul turned one of the region's oldest ski areas into one of its finest, with a 700-foot vertical drop and 73 runs, a third of them expert-class.
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