Thanksgiving in a log cabin on a lake - but where?

October 12, 2009 7:12 PM

My girlfriend and I are looking to spend a few days in a cabin on a lake with a chance of snow (but not a blizzard!). We were thinking Lake Tahoe, but adding up the expenses puts it out of our price range. Any suggestions for how to have a peaceful vacation on the cheap?
posted by jander03 to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

Try Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We just came back from there, and it was a quiet, unspoiled, romantic place. Check out VRBO; they have lots of lakefront homes available to rent.
posted by DrGail at 7:24 PM on October 12

Where are you located?
posted by scody at 7:27 PM on October 12

Also consider Door County, Wisconsin. Where are you based?
posted by carmicha at 7:43 PM on October 12

@DrGail: I'll check into that, thanks for starting us off.

@scody: We're in Louisiana, and if we fly it will likely be out of Baton Rouge.
posted by jander03 at 7:44 PM on October 12

heh, i grew up in baton rouge...couldn't get out of there fast enough...if you want to keep it on the cheap and forgo the snow...lake rosemound is beautiful and within driving distance...lots of cabins to rent and the fishing is really good (i spent a lot of summers there...)
posted by sexyrobot at 7:54 PM on October 12

Oh man. Door County and Michigan UP are both excellent suggestions.

Tahoe is beautiful, but it's tahoe.

My two favorite camping lakes in the country (that I've been to) are probably Oo-wah Lake (yes, its actual name) in the La Sal mountains just outside of Moab, Utah. My god...you're in beautiful, lush mountain forest overlooking the most incredible desert landscape on the planet - on Thanksgiving there will probably be a bit of snow, but no blizzard and no snow fall/rain.

My other wonderful lake love is Lake Timothy on Mt. Hood just outside of Portland. A clearer, more peaceful lake with great camping is hard to find.

Good luck whatever you choose. Lake camp-outs are one of the 'it doesn't get any better than this' things in life.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:11 PM on October 12

Er...sorry...neither of those lakes have log cabins. They are tent/camper camping only...reading fail.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:11 PM on October 12

Try the North Shore of Minnesota...anything North of Duluth along the shore of Lake Superior should be nice and snowy that time of year. There are tons of little resorts and cottages and they're reasonably priced.

Only potential issue...if you fly into Minneapolis/St. Paul, it'll be about a 4 hour drive up there, and if you're not used to driving in snow or ice, that could be tough.
posted by JannaK at 8:36 PM on October 12

Odell Lake in Oregon is lovely. Plus, there's an old Apple ][ game named after it. It's fairly far from any airports, though.
posted by willpie at 8:45 PM on October 12

Backcountry cabins in Algonquin, some of which are only reachable by canoe.

But that's a lot of work just getting there.
posted by GuyZero at 9:34 PM on October 12

Visit a national park, maybe? You can fly into Vegas and then drive to see Zion and Bryce National Parks, which should be beautiful and not too busy at this time of year. Or you could fly a little further and visit Crater Lake NP - some of the facilities start shutting down at the end of October, but there are still rooms to be had just outside the park; its supposed to be one of the most beautiful parks in the country, hoping to go in a few weeks. Seems likely that you'd get a little snow in Oregon at this time of year, too. If you go, check and see if a national parks pass would be worth it (only if you visit a few parks a year that have entrance fees), and maybe pick up a passbook to start collecting stamps!
posted by pkingdesign at 11:42 PM on October 12

Falls Brook Yurts in the southern Adirondacks would be my suggestion.

It's about 3 hours north of New York City, close to Lake George region.
posted by brookeb at 7:53 AM on October 13

These are all awesome answers - thanks for the help!
posted by jander03 at 3:24 PM on October 26