• January 12th, 2011

• Author:

  leahgrove

When the snow starts falling in the High Country, there are plenty of activities to keep families busy on winter weekends.

While residents at Echota tend to flock to the mountains to enjoy the cool summer evenings and beautiful fall color, the High Country is also a prime winter destination. Echota is located within minutes of three major ski resorts, including Ski Beech which has the highest elevation skiing on the East Coast. Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock and Sugar Mountain Ski Resort offer skiing as well.

And all three resorts offer a variety of other winter sports, including ice skating, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and ski lessons for beginners as well as opportunities to rent ski clothing and equipment. Appalachian Ski Mountain’s ice skating rink is open seven nights a week and features a rinkside bonfire for warming up.

At Hawksnest Resort, just south of Echota, you can enjoy snow tubing at the largest snow tubing operation in the East. The resort has 20 snow tubing lanes, some of them up to 1,000 feet long.

And if you’re looking for some peaceful winter recreation in the High Country, consider cross country skiing. When the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed due to inclement winter weather, it is available for cross country skiing, and you can always use the carriage trails at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park.