Some mountain getaways are about the destination. Others are about the place you stay.
Across the Northeast, there are lodges where the journey is part of the experience—where a winding road through the mountains eventually gives way to a stone fireplace, a quiet lake, a trail leading into the woods, or a porch with an unobstructed view of the peaks. Some are luxurious. Some are rustic. A few are wonderfully remote.
These 10 mountain lodges are worth going a little farther for. Whether you’re looking for a fall foliage escape, a winter weekend, a summer hiking basecamp, or simply a place where you can slow down for a few days, they’re destinations in their own right.
Bascom Lodge — Adams, Massachusetts
If you’ve ever wanted to spend the night on top of a mountain, Bascom Lodge is about as close as you can get in the Northeast.
Perched near the summit of 3,491-foot Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, this stone-and-timber lodge dates to the 1930s and has a distinctly old-school mountain character. The Appalachian Trail passes nearby, while trails lead across the summit and into Mount Greylock State Reservation.
The accommodations are decidedly rustic, but that’s part of the appeal. After a day of hiking, settle into one of the lodge’s common areas, grab a meal, and watch the light disappear across the Berkshires. On clear nights, the lack of city lights makes the summit an especially memorable place to see the stars.
Bascom Lodge is currently open Wednesday through Sunday during its operating season, with breakfast, lunch and dinner available on select days.
Best for: Hiking, history, fall foliage and a true mountain-lodge experience.
Garnet Hill Lodge — North River, New York
Hidden in the Adirondacks overlooking Thirteenth Lake, Garnet Hill Lodge feels like the kind of place you stumble upon rather than simply book.
The centerpiece is a historic 1936 log house reminiscent of an Adirondack Great Camp. The property is surrounded by protected wilderness and has its own network of trails, while Thirteenth Lake provides opportunities for paddling and swimming during the warmer months. In winter, Garnet Hill becomes a destination for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
There are no televisions or phones in the lodge rooms, and that’s very much the point. This is a place to read by the fire, hike into the woods, paddle across a quiet lake or simply sit outside and look at the mountains.
Breakfast and resort access are included with overnight stays, making Garnet Hill particularly well suited to travelers who want to spend most of their time outdoors.
Best for: Adirondack solitude, Nordic skiing and unplugging.
Elk Lake Lodge — North Hudson, New York
For travelers who want their mountain escape to feel genuinely removed from the modern world, few places in the Northeast can compete with Elk Lake Lodge.
The lodge sits within a privately owned 12,000-acre wilderness preserve in the heart of the Adirondacks. Mountains including Dix, Macomb and Nippletop surround the property, while miles of trails lead through the preserve.
The experience is intentionally low-key. You can spend the day hiking into the High Peaks, walk along the lake, or simply sit in an Adirondack chair and do almost nothing at all. The lodge operates seasonally, generally from May through October.
This isn’t a resort designed around an endless list of amenities. The wilderness is the amenity—and that’s precisely what makes the long drive worthwhile.
Best for: Wilderness, hiking and getting away from everything.
Highland Center — Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
For an active mountain getaway, the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center is hard to beat.
Located at the southern base of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range in Crawford Notch, the lodge occupies the site of the historic Crawford House and serves as one of the region’s great basecamps for exploring the White Mountains.
The appeal is its location. Some of the Northeast’s most spectacular hiking is right outside the door, while winter transforms the surrounding landscape into a playground for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and other cold-weather adventures.
It’s not the place to go if you’re looking for a private balcony and room service. It’s the place to go when you want to wake up surrounded by mountains and spend the day exploring them.
Best for: Hiking, families, outdoor enthusiasts and four-season adventure.
Mountain Top Resort — Chittenden, Vermont
Mountain Top Resort combines the classic Vermont mountain getaway with something a little harder to find: space.
Set in the Green Mountains overlooking 740-acre Chittenden Reservoir, the resort encompasses hundreds of acres and has an extensive trail system. Guests can choose from rooms in the main lodge, cabins and larger guest homes, making it suitable for everything from couples’ weekends to family gatherings.
In summer, the property revolves around the lake, hiking trails and outdoor activities. Come winter, the landscape becomes a Nordic playground, with cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, skating and sledding.
It’s also the kind of place where you can spend an entire weekend without feeling any need to leave the property.
Best for: Couples, families, lake-and-mountain scenery and year-round escapes.
Scribner’s Catskill Lodge — Hunter, New York
The Catskills have experienced something of a lodging renaissance, and Scribner’s is one of the properties that helped define the new generation of mountain escapes.
Set on a mountainside in Hunter, Scribner’s combines the atmosphere of a traditional ski lodge with modern design, a lively restaurant and spaces designed for lingering. The main lodge has 38 rooms, while The Rounds—11 standalone cabins farther up the mountain—offer outdoor soaking tubs, decks and dramatic views.
The property also puts you in an ideal position for exploring the Catskills. Hiking, skiing, mountain biking and small-town wandering are all close by, but there’s a strong argument for simply staying put: grab a drink, settle into the library or gather around the fire.
It’s a mountain lodge for travelers who want their wilderness escape with considerably better cocktails.
Best for: Design, food and drink, couples and a stylish Catskills escape.
White Mountain Hotel & Resort — North Conway, New Hampshire
There are plenty of places to stay around North Conway, but the White Mountain Hotel & Resort has a particularly strong sense of place.
The family-owned resort sits among the forests and mountains of the Mount Washington Valley, just minutes from downtown North Conway. The setting gives guests easy access to hiking, skiing, waterfalls and other White Mountain attractions while still providing a quieter retreat at the end of the day.
There’s also plenty of reason to linger at the property itself, including a year-round heated outdoor pool and hot tub, fire pits, dining, a spa and views of the surrounding mountains.
It’s a particularly good choice for travelers who want the White Mountains without giving up the comforts of a full-service resort.
Best for: Families, couples and a classic White Mountains getaway.
Topnotch Resort — Stowe, Vermont
Stowe may be one of the Northeast’s most famous mountain towns, but Topnotch Resort offers a reason to make the trip even if skiing isn’t on the itinerary.
The resort sits on 120 wooded acres at the foot of Mount Mansfield and has been part of Stowe’s hospitality scene since 1959. It began as a small family-owned village inn catering to skiers and evolved into a much more expansive mountain retreat.
Today, the property pairs its mountain setting with a substantial spa, pools, tennis and pickleball facilities, dining and easy access to the trails and attractions of Stowe.
The result is a classic Vermont mountain vacation with a more polished edge—equally appealing after a day on the slopes, a hike through the Green Mountains or an afternoon spent exploring Stowe Village.
Best for: Spa weekends, skiing, couples and a more luxurious mountain escape.
Mohonk Mountain House — New Paltz, New York
Few Northeast mountain hotels are as instantly recognizable as Mohonk Mountain House.
The sprawling Victorian resort rises above Lake Mohonk in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains and has been welcoming guests since 1869. Today, the property sits within 40,000 acres of protected forest and offers 85 miles of trails, along with a spa, dining and a remarkably long list of activities.
But the real attraction is the setting. The resort’s turrets, porches and towers seem almost improbably dramatic against the cliffs and forest surrounding it.
Mohonk works especially well when you want the mountains to be part of the experience without necessarily roughing it. You can spend the morning hiking along the cliffs, the afternoon at the spa and the evening wandering the historic house.
Best for: History, hiking, romance and an iconic mountain getaway.
Omni Mount Washington Resort — Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
If you’re going to make the drive into New Hampshire’s northern White Mountains, you might as well go somewhere spectacular.
The Omni Mount Washington Resort is one of New England’s grand mountain hotels, occupying a dramatic setting beneath Mount Washington and the Presidential Range. The historic property combines old-world architecture with modern resort amenities, including a large spa, pools, restaurants and year-round recreational activities.
The surrounding Bretton Woods area provides hiking, skiing, golf, scenic gondola rides and other ways to get into the mountains. The resort itself, meanwhile, is impressive enough to justify a trip even when you aren’t planning to spend every waking hour outdoors.
It’s the choice on this list for travelers who like their mountain scenery with a healthy dose of grandeur.
Best for: Grand hotels, families, skiing and a classic New England mountain vacation.