If you're looking to get off the grid and out into nature to hit the reset button for a few days / weeks, NO MATTER THE TIME OF YEAR, but aren’t necessarily looking for meals out of a pot, a pair of sore legs and feet and nylon accommodations, there's no need to look any further than this beautifully and meticulously crafted Mountain Laurel Cabin.

My wife and I sneak away with our pup for Valentine’s Day each year and seek nature and solitude with as few modern distractions as possible. We found everything we were looking for and them some with Rick and Maria’s place. From the get go Rick and Maria were kind, accommodating and informational, and made sure we were comfortable with every detail of the cabin, from gas and wood stove operation, instructions for the water system, to feeding the animals who stroll the property!

If you’re worried about cold, food storage, fuel, security or “roughing it” worry not, from the minute we got to Croghan it was F’ing cold. It was so cold the night of Valentine’s day that upon waking up and not being able to light the cook stove, I learned our propane had frozen in the tanks! Despite this the cabin was extremely comfortable, and we made coffee, bacon, eggs, toast and taters on the wood stove until we could thaw the propane. The cellar below the main living area is perfect for food storage. There’s plenty of propane and if you do need fuel the convenience store is close by. The property gets a strong cell signal which can be very comforting and great to play music. In terms of roughing it, I’ll put it this way, my wife actually enjoyed using the outhouse, which is heated, and we were able to take warm showers in -10° F temps, which feels like a sauna at that point! We also cooked in the cabin every night by candlelight and oil lamp and prepared meals you’d expect to see in a restaurant, with a much better ambiance of course!

Without getting into the narrative of our stay which was, to sum up with one word, magical, I will simply say that this cabin transforms into this cozy little nook in the middle of the snowy frozen pine forest, and at night, as the sun sets over the pines, the temperature plummets, and the cabin starts to glow from the oil lamps and candles, all you want to do is hunker down with a nice warm beverage and those you’re with, and exist right there in that tranquility, everything else melts away! I’d do this same trip again in a heartbeat, so don’t book this weekend!