Any thoughts on where we would be good for a family trip the week of Christmas? Looking for snow, Santa, etc....

Me, wife, and 5yr old

Starting from where, driving, flying, cheap, expensive, shopping or wilderness.....> ??????

Narrow it down a little.

First suggestions, though, include

Colorado Springs. "Santa's Workshop" out toward Pike's Peak, relatively east to get to, lots of shopping, winter sports, etc

Red River, NM. Great family playground. Can be a little harder travel.

Durango, CO. Winter sports, steam train.

Probably going to drive from the central texas area. Looking for snow for the kid to play in, build snowman, etc...

Cheap as possible I guess

I'd say New Mexico would be a place to start. I've always liked Red River, it's been a family resort for 70 years. To drive up there, you go through a lot of nothing, but then also drive through the beautiful Cimmaron Canyon.

Haven't been to Angel Fire in years, either. It's a nice mountain, but tends to get less snow than Red River.

Sipapu is a old, a little primitive ski area in a pretty place. Not much to do there, but not terribly far from Taos.

Ruidoso is a favorite of West Texans, I really haven't been there in years.

Santa Fe has a nice ski area, but it's about 12 miles from downtown. Though there is plenty to do in town. Not exactly cheap, though.

Albuquerque might not be bad. Since it's not strictly a ski resort, prices might be reasonable. To get to the ski area, though, you have to take the tram (not cheap) or drive around to the other side of Sandia Peak, about 10-12 miles. Lots else to do in ABQ, too.

Worst part of going to ABQ will be if there is a snowstorm on the high plains (7000" feet) between Santa Rosa and Tijeras Pass. One inch of snow and a north wind and I-40 gets shut down.

If you have questions about any of them, I'll try to answer.

So I made an assumption you were in the Austin area. I forget how far it is from there to northern New Mexico. For us, it's less than 300 miles to Red River.

If you are fine with a small resort, and don't need a ski area, what about Cloudcroft, New Mexico?

It's still a long drive (600 from Austin) but you stay on a southern route and avoid some potential bad weather. If Cloudcroft is full, you could stay in Alamogordo (not pretty) but it's only a short drive up the mountain. Potential side trips include White Sands and the missile range museum, Sunspot observatory, the space museum in Alamogordo, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell (if you must) and Ft. Davis, Texas, on the way there or back.

We're looking for the exact same thing (either the week after Christmas or later in Jan/Feb) with our 4 year old.

We're looking for a place to play in the snow. (sledding, tubing, etc.)

I've mostly been able to find ski areas, but we don't necessarily need skiing this year.

So far we're considering Ruidoso or Cloudcroft since those are the closest drive from Ft. Worth. Ideally I'd like to find a place a little closer that still has snow.

North Pole.

Wally World

http://i.imgur.com/kg3RT.jpg