Title Text

It is always good to hear about the new activities the local mountain resorts offer our guests for Summertime Fun!!  This year Cranmore stepped it up a bit and has exciting adventures all over the mountain!!  Read the details below and then swing on over to our site and pick your dates for YOUR adventure!

_____________________________________________________________________________

On the heels of $6 million in capital investment last fall under new ownership, Cranmore has announced plans for their new Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park to open for summer operations starting Memorial Day Weekend, May 28, 2011. The Park will feature a new Aerial Adventure Park, with a ropes course, zip lines and air-bridges, as well as the Cranmore Mountain Coaster, which opened to great acclaim last November.

New Hampshire’s newest summer attraction, the Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park offers a variety of activities that are appropriate for all ages. Cranmore invested in excess of $800,000 for the Park, in addition to the $1.2 for construction of the Mountain Coaster, for a total of $2 million in improvements for the new operation.

Cranmore Mountain’s move into year-round operations is part of its revitalization started last June when the venerable resort was purchased by the primary owners of Jiminy Peak Resort in western Massachusetts. The Park will open for a weekend-only schedule starting Memorial Day weekend, then offer daily operations from June 18 – Labor Day. For fall, the Park will return to a weekend schedule.

With its location right in North Conway Village, NH, Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park is less than 1 mile off of Route 16 and close by to the popular resort town’s shops, outlets, restaurants and hotels. The Park will offer the most activities for families closest to the town center.

The Park offers a full day of outdoor fun, with economical all-inclusive ticket options starting as low as $29 for unlimited all day rides. Deep discounts are also available for groups of 20 people or more.

The Cranmore Mountain Adventure Park will feature:

Aerial Adventure Park – Guests climb up ramps and ladders and cross rope bridges. Courses available for different ages and ability levels, with multiple zip lines of up to 400 feet in length.

Child Ropes Course – A kid friendly version of the Aerial Adventure Park, this course is designed for children age 4 to 8.

Mountain Coaster – The Coaster offers thousands of feet of twisting, turning fun. The driver controls the speed for a leisurely ride or speeds of up to 25 mph. The total mountain coaster trip goes 3705 ft up and down the mountain with 1315 of uphill track, and 2390 feet of downhill track.

Giant Swing – The swing lets 4 riders arc high into the sky.

Summer Tubing – It’s a winter tubing experience in the summer. Ride the conveyor lift to the top of the park and ride one of two 400’ lanes to the bottom of the slope. Tubes are provided as part of the admission price.

Penguin Mini Golf – This 9-hole mini golf course is ideal for youngsters with a penguin theme featuring Cranmore’s mascot, C-more.

Four Plex Trampoline – Four station bungy trampoline.

Spyder Mountain - This is a 24 feet high, oval cylinder that children climb up. At the top they slide down a large inflatable slide.

18 Hole Disc Golf Course – An 18 hole disc golf course that travels up the slopes and across the base area. Guest may bring their own discs or borrow a set here (deposit required).

Scenic Chairlift Ride & Summit Hike - Take the Skimobile Express Quad to the summit for scenic views of North Conway and Mountain Washington and a mountain top walk. Open 11-4pm. Boxed lunches are available at base to enjoy at the summit on the deck of the Meister Hut.

Bouncy Houses – Large and small bouncy houses for all members of the family to enjoy.

“Cranmore has been known as North Conway’s premiere ski destination for almost 75 years,” stated Cranmore president Ben Wilcox, “Now with the opening of our new Mountain Adventure Park, Cranmore will once again welcome summer visitors. We anticipate attracting tens of thousands of guests to Cranmore in what formerly was our ‘off season.’ This new attraction will serve to strengthen both Cranmore and the entire surrounding business community.”

Cranmore is an associate member of White Mountain Attractions, New Hampshire’s association of premiere summer theme parks.

Schedule and Hours of Operation
* Open Weekends from Memorial Day, May 28 through June 12 from 10am – 5pm
* Open Daily from June 18 – Labor Day, Sept. 5 from 9am – 6pm
* Open Fall Weekends through October from 10am – 5pm
Limited fall operations and schedule after Columbus Day. Call for details.

Pricing

All Access Pass (ages 3 and up): $29

Unlimited rides all day on all attractions for one individual, all ages – age 3 and older (exc. Aerial Adventure Park).

Last Blast All Access Pass (last 2 hours of operation): $19
Single Ride Ticket: $10
Single Ride Ticket 6 Pack (interchangeable): $49
Aerial Adventure Park: $45 (three hours)

Last Blast Aerial Adventure Park Pass – $5 off any reservation between 3:30pm and close.

Child Ropes Course (ages 3-8): $19 (90 minutes)
All Access Plus Aerial Adventure Park: $65
All Access Plus Child Ropes Course (ages 3-8): $39
Reservations are recommended for any ticket including Aerial Adventure Park.

Cranmore will also have a full service cafeteria including beer and wine available on site. For more information, go to www.cranmore.com/summer or call 1-800-SUN-N-SKI.

So….. you say you are interested in taking a hiking adventure?

Whether you want your next hiking adventure to only last a few hours or last as long as a few days, you may want to start thinking about planning your next hiking adventure in advance.

Although it is nice to hear that you should plan your next hiking adventure in advance, you may be interested in wondering why that is so.  A large number of individuals turn a traditional hiking adventure into a full-fledged vacation.  If you would like to camp overnight, it is important that you make your reservations in advance. During the summer months, you will find that camping and hiking are popular activities; therefore, many hiking parks quickly fill up with camping reservations.

As for the actual hiking part, planning this adventure in advance will give you the time to research and choose from a number of different hiking trails. Unfortunately, a large number of hikers, especially first time hikers, make the mistake of going with the first hiking trail or hiking park that they come across. While this is more than possible to do, do you know that you likely have a number of different options?  No matter where you live, you likely have a number of hiking parks or hiking trails to choose from, often within a reasonable distance away from your home.  Of course, here in the Whites, we’ve got literally hundreds of miles of trails to pick from!!

Once you have selected a hiking trail to hike or a hiking park to visit, you will want to take the time to familiarize yourself with the park or trail in question.  This is nice because you can learn more about the territory that you will be hiking. In addition to examining the difficulty level or estimating the amount of time that you would spend hiking, you may also want to think about familiarizing yourself with the security of the park or trial in question. This information is always nice to know, especially in the event of an emergency

Another one of the many reasons why you ought to think about planning your hiking vacation in advance is because it will be easier to prepare for your trip.  When you go hiking, whether you only go for a day or a whole week, you need to bring numerous pieces of gear with you. For instance, to stay safe on a hiking adventure, you will want to make sure that you bring clothing for the various weather changes, bring plenty of water and food and maybe even a GPS or cell phone, though these should NOT be relied upon. Making your hiking adventure plans in advance will give you the opportunity to create a checklist for yourself.  This is also something you can refer back to for your next trip and adjust as necessary.  I am always making changes to my list as gear improves and certainly as the seasons change.

The earlier you plan your hiking adventure the more time you will have to prepare an itinerary for yourself.  For instance, are you planning on camping onsite or would you like to travel to a nearby hotel or resort?  Of course Saco River Lodge hosts hundreds of hikers and outside adventurers every year!  An itinerary not only serves as a guide for you, but it is also something that can help to keep you safe. What you will want to do is give a copy of your itinerary to some of your friends and family members. In the event that something goes wrong on your next hiking adventure, your friends and family members may know where to find you.

I, for one, love hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  My favorite kind of hiking is Winter Hiking for a number of reasons.  Primarily it is the fact that there are not bugs!!  Black Flies, mosquitos, etc..  are just not a factor.   Second, is the fact that you are typically walking on what I like to call, the ivory sidewalk.  Dozens of hearty souls have gone before you and tracked out a pathway where the trail is.  This leaves a nice wide trail to snowshoe on and eliminates the rocks, stumps, sticks, etc. that you encounter when the trail is not snow-covered.  The last, and most fun, reason I prefer winter hiking is the way down!  For many years now, I’ve hiked with a lightweight plastic sled strapped to my backpack.  This makes for a fun, quick and sometimes scary ride to the bottom!  I don’t recommend the circular type “saucer” sleds, since those have no steering capabilities at all.  It is certainly good to have some ability to avoid trees and other hikers!!

Unless your decision to go on a hiking adventure is a last minute one, you will want to try and plan your trip in advance.  Those who take the time to fully plan for and prepare for their hiking adventures are more likely to enjoy themselves.