Winter at the Cabins

Winter at the cabins runs from December to the end of March. The three cabins sit about ten road miles south of Malone at the northern edge of the Adirondack Park, with Titus Mountain's base lodge about three and a half road miles away, the C7 snowmobile corridor close by and a private hot tub on each cabin's deck. More than a third of the reviews on the three listings were posted between December and March. This page takes the winter a month at a time, with the weather and the daylight, when the lakes freeze, what is open and closed, the dates worth planning around, and how each cabin handles the cold.

The weather month by month

These are the 1991-2020 averages for Malone, about ten road miles north of the cabins and several hundred feet lower; the cabins sit at about 1,300 feet. The last two columns count, in an average year, the nights when the low falls to zero or below and the days with at least an inch of snow on the ground.

A normal year in Malone brings about 95 inches of snow, nearly all of it between November and April. January is the coldest month and the snowiest. February is a little milder, but it holds the deepest snow: in an average February the ground carries ten inches or more on about 12 days, against 8 or 9 in January. March is still a winter month here, with about 15 inches of snowfall and snow on the ground on about 22 of its 31 days.

A snowpack of five inches or more lies on the ground on about 10 days in an average December, 17 in January, 19 in February and 16 in March, so the deepest and steadiest snow for a walk on snowshoes comes from mid-January into March. The cabins do not list snowshoes, so bring a pair or rent them at a trail center; the cross-country guide lists the rentals.

Most of the snow comes a little at a time. Some snow falls on 11 to 14 days in each of the three midwinter months, a snowfall of an inch or more comes on 8 or 9 days in an average January, and a storm of five inches or more comes about once a month from December through March. Malone's weather station, with records back to 1983, shows how big the exceptions can be. Its two largest one-day snowfalls both came in March: 26 inches on March 14, 1993, and 25 inches on March 15, 2017. Its coldest reading is -31°F, on February 7, 1993, and the coldest of the last twenty years is -27°F, on February 5, 2023.

Owls Head, the hamlet about three and a half road miles from the cabins, was once billed as the Ice Box of the North; the Owls Head guide tells how that claim held up. On the ski hill, Titus Mountain backs up the natural snow with about 150 acres of snowmaking, and the Titus guide has its snowfall month by month.

For forecasts and warnings, the National Weather Service office in Burlington, Vermont, puts the cabins in its Southern Franklin zone, while Malone is in Northern Franklin, so read the Southern Franklin forecast when a storm is coming. Since October 2024 the Weather Service has used new names for its cold alerts: a Cold Weather Advisory replaced the old Wind Chill Advisory, and an Extreme Cold Warning replaced the Wind Chill Warning, because cold can be dangerous with or without wind. At 0°F with a 15 mph wind, the wind chill is -19°F, cold enough to freeze exposed skin in 30 minutes.

Daylight from December to March

These are the sunrise and sunset times at the cabins in local clock time, on the first of each month and on the day daylight saving time begins.

The shortest day is December 21, with 8 hours and 48 minutes between sunrise and sunset, but the earliest sunsets come before it: the sun goes down at 4:16 p.m. every day from December 4 to 14. The latest sunrise, 7:34 a.m., holds from December 28 to January 8, so early January gains light in the afternoon while the mornings stay dark. After that the light comes back quickly: February 1 has nearly an hour more of it than January 1, and March 31 has close to four hours more than the solstice.

Clocks go forward an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2027, the second Sunday of the month. That moves sunset from 6:00 p.m. on the Saturday to 7:01 p.m. on the Sunday, and sunrise from 6:13 a.m. to 7:11 a.m.

Short days shape a December stay. On December 1 the sun sets at 4:17 p.m. and twilight is over by 4:50, so plan the drive in, a walk in the woods and the last ski runs around the early afternoon, and leave the long evenings for the fire, the hot tub and the stars. Through December the sky is fully dark by about 6 p.m.; the stargazing post has the winter sky.

December

December averages a high of 30°F and a low of 13°F in Malone, with about 21 inches of snow over the month, and snow covers the ground on about 21 of its 31 days in an average year. The low reaches zero or below on four or five nights.

The ski season starts this month or in late November. Titus Mountain had not posted its 2026-27 dates in early October 2026. In recent winters it has opened anywhere from mid-November to the week before Christmas, depending on snow, so check the mountain's site before you book. Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026; on its 2025-26 calendar Titus closed that day and treated Christmas week as a holiday period. Whiteface, about 62 road miles away, opened on November 15 in 2025, and to the public a week later. For cross-country skiing, the 25 miles of trails at the Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center, about 31 road miles south, open to skiers and snowshoers on December 1, and Mt Van Hoevenberg near Lake Placid, about 60 road miles away, has 5 kilometers of trail with snowmaking. The Titus guide and the cross-country guide have the lifts, tickets and trails.

Snowmobile trails open later and less predictably. They traditionally open after the regular deer hunting season closes and once three inches or more of snow or ice covers them, and on private land the local clubs decide when their trails open, by the snow and their agreements with landowners. In the Northern Zone the regular deer season runs into early December, through December 6 on the state's 2026 schedule, so wear something bright on walks in the woods until then. Snowmobiling from the cabin door explains how to check which trails are open on a given day.

December is also holiday season. Santa's Workshop at North Pole, closed through the summer and fall of 2026, reopens for holiday weekends from late November 2026; the Santa's Workshop guide has the hours and the Village of Lights evenings. The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, about 57 road miles away, keeps winter hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday, from November through March, and closes on December 25 and January 1. Lake Placid's holiday events and the rest of the month's dates are on the events calendar.

When the lakes freeze

The lakes lock up through December, and the date moves from year to year. Mirror Lake in Lake Placid has one of the longest ice records in New York State, kept since 1903. Over the whole record it has frozen over, on average, on December 4, and since 2015 on December 12. The ice now comes about 17 days later than it did in 1903, and the lake carries it for about 27 fewer days a winter. In the winter of 2015-16 the lake did not freeze over until January 4 and was open again by March 28. Last winter, 2025-26, it froze over early, on December 2, and the ice lasted 130 days.

Closer to the cabins, a Paul Smith's College professor has tracked the ice on Lower St. Regis Lake, about 31 road miles south, since 1985. The lake's first freeze-up of the 2018-19 winter came on November 15, the earliest in his record at the time, though he noted that in most recent years the ponds and lakes had been freezing about a week later than they used to.

New ice is not walking ice. Before you step onto any frozen lake, read the ice thickness table in the snowmobile guide.

January

January is the heart of the winter. Malone averages a high of 23°F and a low of 4°F, about 22 inches of snow falls, and snow lies on the ground on about 28 of the month's 31 days. In an average January the low falls to zero or below on about 12 nights and to 10°F or below on about 19. The station's coldest January reading is -30°F, on January 27, 1994.

New Year's Day falls on a Friday in 2027, which makes the first weekend of the year a long one; The Wild Center is closed that day. The next long weekend is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 18, 2027, which Titus also counted as a holiday period last season. Book early for either one. The January competitions at Lake Placid's Olympic venues and Montreal's winter festivals are on the events calendar.

Ice fishing near the cabins comes with a Franklin County rule about trout water, so check a lake before you drill; the lakes guide explains the rule and covers the lakes closest to the cabins.

January also brings the coldest nights of the year, so watch the forecast for the Weather Service's cold alerts and plan outdoor time for the middle of the day; the sun is up for only about nine hours.

February

February averages 27°F by day and 6°F at night, with about 18 inches of snow and nine nights at or below zero in an average year. Snow covers the ground on 26 of its 28 days in an average February, the highest share of any month.

The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival is the big event of the month. In 2027 it runs from February 5 to 14, with the theme Wizards and Dragons and the parade on Saturday, February 13, and its ice palace is lit every night from the lighting ceremony to the close of the carnival, weather permitting. Saranac Lake is about 43 road miles south of the cabins; the carnival guide covers the palace, the parades, the fireworks and parking.

Washington's Birthday falls on Monday, February 15, in 2027, so the carnival parade lands on the Saturday of the long weekend, and Titus counted Presidents' week as a holiday period last season. Valentine's Day falls on the Sunday of that weekend. One guest at The Modern Pine wrote in February 2025: "We loved this place for our romantic valentines getaway with the hot tub and fireplace".

Tupper Lake has the month's big day on the ice. The Northern Challenge Ice Fishing Derby, a catch-and-release northern pike contest run by the Tupper Lake Sportsmen's Club, puts more than a thousand anglers on Simon Pond and is billed as one of the largest ice fishing tournaments in New York State. It is held on the first Saturday in February; last year that was February 7, 2026, so check the club's date for 2027. Tupper Lake is about 57 road miles from the cabins, and The Wild Center there is open on winter weekends.

March

March is the month the season turns. Malone averages 36°F by day and 16°F at night, and the days grow by more than an hour and a half over the month. It is still a snowy month, with about 15 inches in an average year, and both of the station's biggest one-day snowfalls came in March. The low still falls to zero or below on three or four nights, while the warmest March day on record reached 78°F, on March 22, 2012. Keep the winter gear in the car until April.

It is maple month too. New York's Maple Weekends, organized by the New York State Maple Producers Association, fall on March 13 and 14 and March 20 and 21 in 2027, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at most farms. Titus Mountain has its own sugarhouse, Moon Valley Maple, at the ski area. The spring page explains how the sugaring season works and how it ends.

Titus celebrates the end of its season with Mountain Madness, a Saturday party in March; in 2026 it fell on March 14, and the events calendar has the program. In recent winters the lifts have closed between late March and early April, snow permitting, and the trails at the Paul Smith's College center stay open to skiers and snowshoers until April 1. Good Friday falls on March 26, 2027, and New York City's public schools close that day, so Easter weekend is a March weekend this time.

For riders, March brings the end of the trail season on state land. Each spring the state closes the snowmobile trails and the gates on its seasonal access roads across the Forest Preserve, state forests and conservation easement lands in Franklin County and the rest of its Region 5 for the thaw; in 2026 every gate was expected to be shut by Friday, March 20. The snowmobile guide covers the free snowmobiling weekends the state has offered visiting riders late in the season.

What is open and closed in winter

For a short winter walk to a view, Elephant's Head in the Titusville Mountain State Forest is about 9 road miles from the cabins, but its 1.5-mile dirt access road is not suitable for low-clearance cars. In winter, hike the road to the parking area, which adds about three miles to the round trip; the state forest guide has the trail.

The hot tubs in winter

Each cabin has its own hot tub on its deck. The Modern Pine's listing describes its tub as available all year and open 24 hours, and The Aviator's listing notes that each cabin's fire pit and hot tub are for that cabin's guests alone. Winter is the tubs' busiest season in the reviews, and a January 2022 guest at The Modern Tiny Home put a ski day and a soak together:

Hot tub was amazing cabin was cozy and we really enjoyed snowboarding at Titus mountain just a few mins away.

On a January night the air averages about 4°F, so keep boots and a robe by the door and the cover closed between soaks. The hot tub page has the winter routine and the safety rules.

Stoves, heat and the windows

The Modern Pine and The Aviator, the two cabins on the shared property, each have a Jøtul GF 160 DV gas stove in the living room; the Pine's listing calls it a gas fireplace. A January 2022 guest at the Pine wrote, "The fireplace heater was a great touch!"

The Modern Tiny Home has no gas stove. Its listing shows heating, a February 2022 guest there called it "clean, cozy, warm, peaceful, and beautiful," and it has the big stone fire pit outside. The Jøtul stoves post explains how the stoves work and how the Tiny Home keeps its heat.

All three cabins have two large picture windows in the living room, looking over the forest and the mountains, and guests have written about watching the snow from them in December, January and February reviews. A December 2024 guest at the Tiny Home took in "the snow covered trees and mountains through two giant picture windows in the living room."

Which cabin for a winter stay

• The Modern Pine (Cabin 2) has the Jøtul stove, the après-ski decor and a hot tub listed as open 24 hours all year. Its listing offers room in the parking area for a snowmobile and a three-minute sled ride to the C7 trail, and it takes stays of 28 nights or more.
• The Aviator (Cabin 3) has the same stove, the aviation decor, a large open deck and a smokeless fire pit on the lawn. Its listing gives direct access to the snowmobile and ATV trails, and it also allows stays of 28 nights or more.
• The Modern Tiny Home (Cabin 1) has no gas stove and relies on its heating. It has the big stone fire pit, room in the parking area for a snowmobile, and a short trail to a pond and an observation deck, which are shared when the neighboring cabin is booked.

The Pine and The Aviator share one property, so a group of eight can book both. Each cabin sleeps four, in a main bedroom and a bunk room. The Modern Pine and The Modern Tiny Home are listed as not suitable for children under 10, and all three listings carry Airbnb's flag that they are not suitable for children and infants. The cabin comparison sets the three side by side, and ski cabins near Titus Mountain matches them to a ski trip.

The drive in winter

Every route to the cabins ends on county and town roads and a private gravel drive, and in winter those last miles decide when you arrive; winter driving covers the plows, tires and road reports, and getting to the cabins has the routes. Plan to reach the area in daylight, which in December means by about 4 p.m., and tell the host when you expect to arrive.

From Canada, the Trout River crossing on NY 30 has been closed to U.S.-bound traffic since June 1, 2026, with the work expected to last until about May 2028; crossing the border lists the other ports and their hours.

What to pack

Pack for days in the 20s and 30s, nights in the single digits and teens, snow on the ground and a hot tub at the end of the day, and plan to shop for groceries in Malone on the way in. The full lists by season and by kind of trip are on when to come and what to pack.

Questions

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. Hours, fees and schedules change; confirm before you go.

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