Five Winter Day Trips to Take in Massachusetts
Stave off cabin fever somewhere new this year.
Photo by Lorianne DiSabato on Flickr/Creative Commons
1. The DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum — Lincoln
The DeCordova is known for its rolling green lawns dotted with thought-provoking art, but post-snow storm, the grassy park becomes an explorable blanket of white. The museum offers 90-minute snowshoe tours on weekends for snowshoers of all ages and skill levels. (It’s easy—we promise.) Afterward, warm up inside the museum’s whimsical café overlooking Flint’s Pond.
51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, decordova.org.
Photo by chipmunk_1 on Flickr/Creative Commons
2. The Lyman Plant House & Conservatory — Northampton
A part of the Botanic Garden of Smith College, the Lyman Plant House & Conservatory is a balmy, glass-encased environment that makes for the perfect place to warm up. It holds more than 3,000 species of plants, from succulents to begonias. Smith’s greenhouses are one of only a few remaining 19th-century plant conservatories in the country.
16 College Lane, Northampton, smith.edu.
3. The Norman Rockwell Museum — Stockbridge
Norman Rockwell’s classic images of small-town America come to life at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, where there are 998 original paintings and drawings to marvel at. It’s the world’s largest collection of Rockwell art, and showcases his gems from the Saturday Evening Post, depictions of World War II, and various commissioned advertisements. Another trip should be scheduled during warmer months when Rockwell’s studio is open.
9 Glendale Road / Route 183, Stockbridge, nrm.org.
Photo by gGraphy on Flickr/Creative Commons
4. New England Sports Park — Amesbury
Backyard tubing will never be quite the same once you’ve glided down one of the 12 lanes at New England Sports Park. During wintertime, the wide-open play space transforms into a snow-coated arena that claims to have the steepest snow tubing hills in New England. Hop on the conveyer lift to the top of the hill, then descend to the bottom again in one of the park’s 1,000 tubes.
12 S Hunt Road, Amesbury, newenglandsportspark.com.
Photo by Michael Femia on Flickr/Creative Commons
5. The Old Manse — Concord
In a state full of National Historic Landmarks, the Old Manse is a standout. Built in 1770 for a patriot minister, the place has been called home by literary greats like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can tour the Georgian clapboard and see where Hawthorne and his wife wrote poems to each other on the house’s window panes. After the tour, check out the specialty bookstore, then take a brisk winter walk through the nearby footpaths to see where the first battle of the Revolutionary War took place.
269 Monument Street, Concord, thetrustees.org.
