Seven Springs is more difficult to get to than Winterplace, where the slopes border the interstate, but it is by far the second easiest skiing facility in the region to access. Just drive north or south until you reach I-70. Then follow it to Western Pa., and turn off at the Somerset exit. Drive up the hill through the center of town and turn right onto Route 31. Follow it west for 10-15 minutes until the Seven Springs gateway appears on your left. If you are coming up from Kentucky, we highly recommend you go through West Virginia, I-79 to Morgantown, and I-68 east into Maryland. Then you can cut across country on state route 219 through Meyersdale. In Spring, Summer and Fall this would be a shorter route. But we've tried it several times. In Winter it is not reliable. You almost always hit snow, ice, fog, wind, cold and sometimes blizzards in West Virginia and the ice and snow extends into Maryland. The Meyersdale cutoff also has a tradition of drifting snow. We have been forced to stop for the night in various West Virginia towns and have had some trips snowed out, where we had to wait two days in West Virginia and then when the weather cleared just drive back to Kentucky. So trust us : take the lower elevation, more reliable Ohio route.

Remember I-70 becomes the Pennsylvania turnpike, so come with change ready for the toll booths. If you're coming up from Kentucky, this and Petoskey will be your longest ski trips. The driving across Ohio is not hard, but it will take about six hours from Lexington to Somerset. You need to leave school as soon as humanly possible at the bell Friday so you can pull into Somerset between 10 - 11 pm. This is also a good trip to schedule over one of the three day breaks. Columbus is your best stop. It's about halfway. We recommend you take the bypass around Columbus from I-71 to I-70. You should be coming through the city during the last part of rush hour and traffic slows down considerably. As you leave the bypass and pull onto I-70 East, we recommend you pull off at the first Reynoldsburg exit for gas, food and rest rooms. There is a three mile boulevard of good choices. We like the Applebee's, Asian Star Chinese Buffet, and Bob Evans. They're all pretty fast, easy on the budget and filling. Ohio and especially Pennsylvania have long experience with snow and their crews are very good at keeping roads open, as seen at left.