Relaxing Family Vacation Ideas

This vacation destination is located in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and offers two and three bedroom cottages in the woods with a view of the Belknap Mountain Range. The cottages have fully equipped kitchens to meet all of your needs, complete with dinnerware, cookware and silverware, as well as a dining room. The living room is adorned with a fireplace, giving you that good old country feeling, yet it is modernized with wireless Internet, cable TV, phone service and a DVD player. Outside you will find lawn furniture, picnic tables and grills for the nights you would like to cook out. You also have access to 200 feet of sandy beach for fun, as well as three piers, rowboats, canoes and paddleboats. The lake itself is great for swimming and fishing, and after a day of play, you can make use of the firewood provided for you, creating a campfire in the outdoor firepit.

Crystal Acres, LLC
278 Crystal Lake Rd.
Gilmanton, NH 03837
(800) 431-6746

For something out of the ordinary, try spending your vacation on a dude ranch. This offers activities for the whole family, and if parents want to participate in an activity of their own for the day, the kids are supervised by ranch counselors as they participate in activities geared toward their ages. You can begin your day with a horseback ride through the National forest trails. They have trail rides to meet everyone's level of riding experience, from the beginner to the experienced. One of the most popular activities at the ranch is actually learning how to work on a ranch; the staff will teach you how to round up and pen a head of steer. For those who enjoy fishing, you can spend your day at their privately stocked lake fly fishing. They even provide all the equipment for you, boats and all. In the recreation center, kids and adults alike can enjoy a game of antique bowling, billiards and ping-pong, or you can play tennis or basketball on one of the four courts provided. For children ages 4 to 12, the Foxes' Den is the perfect spot. It is run by trained children's counselors who provide riding lessons, do arts and crafts and take the children to the petting zoo.

Michael Smith
King Mountain Ranch
P.O. Box 497
Granby, CO 80446
(800) 476-5464

This resort, located in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is among one of only 21 resorts and hotels in the world to receive a five diamond rating by AAA for its service. Situated on 3,000 acres, you can opt to stay in one of its hotels, townhouses or private luxury homes. For the women there is the internationally acclaimed Woodlands Spa, where they can receive the latest in spa treatments and therapies during their stay. While the women are being spoiled, the men can enjoy 36 holes of golf on one of the resort's championship courses. If your husband is more of a sportsman, he can always go to the Shooting Academy and get in some target shooting or fly fishing. If you have an adventurous teen in your family, they will enjoy the 18-mile, off-road driving experience with the Hummer H1 or H2 vehicles. For the younger guests, the Wildlife Academy is the perfect spot. In it they will find the equestrian center, filled with horses they can ride, an animal nursery, a petting zoo, and an animal habitat that includes black bears, buffalo and tigers, among other animals. In the winter the resort offers cross-country and downhill skiing, as well as snowboarding, snow tubing, sleigh riding and dog sledding. Your dining experience at Nemacolin will be like none other, and you can choose from casual to fine dining, French style. For wine lovers, there are regular wine tastings and lessons in the Academie du Vin.

Nemacolin Woodland Resort
1001 LaFayette Dr.
Farmington, PA 15437
(724) 329-8555