New Hampshire Ski Lodging: Cannon, Loon, and Bretton Woods

Cannon Mountain is owned and run by the state, inside Franconia Notch State Park. Its vertical drop is 2,180 feet, and trails such as the historic Taft Slalom give it a reputation for expert terrain.

Lodging for Cannon is in Franconia and the hilltop town of Sugar Hill, 3 to 5 miles from the mountain. The Franconia Inn has 29 rooms on 65 acres and 40 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails, and Hideaway Inn Franconia Notch occupies the surviving 1880s annex of the Sunset Hill grand hotel. Bethlehem, about 15 minutes away, has more lodging and a small Main Street.

Loon Mountain in Lincoln has a large base area, terrain parks and a ski school, and it does much of its business with families and intermediate skiers. Lincoln and neighboring North Woodstock line Route 112 with motels, family hotels, condominium resorts and restaurants. The Mountain Club on Loon describes itself as Loon's only slopeside lodging, and The Lodge at Lincoln Station runs a seasonal shuttle to the mountain.

In North Woodstock, Woodstock Inn Brewery has rooms in eight buildings, a brewery that offers tours, and a restaurant and pub serving three meals a day. Lincoln is about 2 hours from Boston via I-93, the shortest drive of the White Mountains ski towns.

The Bretton Woods ski area is on Mount Rosebrook, facing Mount Washington, at 6,288 feet the highest peak in the Northeast, and the Presidential Range across the valley. Its terrain leans toward intermediate skiers and families, and the Bretton Woods Nordic Center grooms about 100 kilometers of cross-country trails.

The Omni Mount Washington Resort, a 1902 grand hotel and National Historic Landmark, runs the ski area, and its smaller sister, The Bretton Arms Inn, is on the same grounds. The AMC Highland Center, run by the Appalachian Mountain Club at the head of Crawford Notch, costs less and runs hikes and natural history programs.

Waterville Valley is a planned resort village south of the main range, reached from I-93 at Exit 28. Lodging is in condominiums and hotels in the village rather than in a separate town, and the terrain suits intermediate skiers and families. It suits skiers who want everything within the resort; there is no Main Street or independent restaurant scene outside it.

The Mount Washington Valley, on the east side of the range, has Cranmore in North Conway, Attitash in Bartlett, and Wildcat and Black Mountain near Jackson. Cranmore Mountain Lodge is steps from Cranmore, and Jackson's inns, including Eagle Mountain House and Wildcat Inn & Tavern, are close to Black Mountain and the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation's cross-country network.

The White Mountains ski season usually runs from mid-December through late March, and Cannon and Wildcat often stay open into April. Holiday weeks and February school vacation are the busiest periods, while January weekdays and early March have more open rooms. Summer hiking on the Presidential Range, from June through Labor Day, keeps much of the same lodging busy outside ski season.