Featuring Gingerbread Houses, Nutcracker Ballet Performances, St. Joseph’s Choir, Ice Skating, Fire Pits…
If you’re looking for a holiday season that you and your loved ones will never forget, set your GPS for Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz.
The 156-year-old Mohonk Mountain House is beloved as one of the Hudson Valley’s most iconic resorts for family fun and romantic escapes. Nestled beside a glacial lake and surrounded by 40,000 acres of protected forest, the resort offers luxury accommodations, gourmet meals, ice skating in an open-air pavilion with a 39-foot-tall stone fireplace, 85 miles of scenic hiking trails, wellness activities, a heated swimming pool, and a state-of-the-art fitness center, just to name a few of the amenities.
During the holiday season, though, the team at the family-owned and -operated Mohonk Mountain House kicks their legendary hospitality up another notch.
It would be next to impossible to imagine a festive holiday activity that Mohonk Mountain House doesn’t offer from the Saturday after Thanksgiving through the New Year—from visits with Santa or a self-guided tour of the resort’s intricately decorated Christmas trees to performances of A Christmas Carol and Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations.
But merely throwing a festive weeks-long party with epic accoutrements and a rotating cast of talented performers is just the tip of the tinsel-strewn holiday iceberg at Mohonk Mountain House.
Celebrate a Victorian Holiday + Renowned Gingerbread Competition
“We kick things off with the Mohonk Christmas Tree Lighting on November 29 with holiday carols and St. Joseph’s Choir performing,” says Annie Pilek, Mohonk’s director of recreation and entertainment. “Every day after the Christmas Tree Lighting through the New Year, we host our Victorian Holiday celebrations. Highlights include strolls through our Instagram-worthy Winter Lights display, campfires with s’mores, screenings of holiday classics like Elf and White Christmas, visits and pictures with Santa, and performances of A Christmas Carol and scenes from The Nutcracker by the New Paltz School of Ballet.”
In addition to the impressive Victorian Holiday celebrations held inside the Victorian castle and dotted around the vast grounds, Mohonk Mountain House serves up one of the most renowned holiday design competitions in the Northeast: the Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition.
Every year, fans of holiday cheer and frosted, good-natured competition flock to Mohonk Mountain House for the annual Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition. This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the competition, to be held on December 7, with 40+ stunning creations arriving to compete for top prizes, which include overnight stays at Mohonk Mountain House, dinner for two at their exclusive Chef’s Table experience, and $1,000 Mohonk gift cards.
“The competition itself is a lot of fun, and the level of artistry is outstanding,” Pilek says. “The competitors take their gingerbread creations very seriously, and often start constructing them over the summer.” Guests are welcome to visit the Mountain House and join the festivities on the day of the competition with a Gingerbread Pass.
After the competition is held and the winners are crowned, the judge-selected winning Gingerbread Houses are displayed throughout the Mountain House, and guests are invited to take a self-guided tour to see them all.
In addition to competition day on December 7, Gingerbread Passes will be available for day visits on December 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 29. Anyone who comes for the day with a Gingerbread Pass receives access to the Mountain House, the self-guided Gingerbread tour, all of the decorated Christmas trees and holiday displays, the Winter Light trail, hiking trails, a special $20 rate for ice skating, and 20% off of lunch in the Main Dining Room if they come during the week. (The tickets are first come, first served, and are offered 72 hours in advance.)
The annual Gingerbread Pass, at $15 a pop, is surely one of the best holiday deals in the Hudson Valley. All proceeds are donated to the Regional Food Bank, a local nonprofit dedicated to alleviating hunger in our local community. Last year, the Passes raised $30,000 for the Food Bank.
Whether you visit the resort for Victorian Holidays, the epic Gingerbread competition, Christmas, Hanukkah, or one of the many evening performances, it would be impossible to leave without feeling a whole lot merrier.
