Along the Front Range in the early spring, you can step outside your house, quite comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, and know that winter recreation is just a brief car ride away.

(OK, OK. Brief is a relative thing. For me, being from the Eastern Plains of Colorado, any drive less than two hours is brief.)

But the question every year, however, is how long will the snow last?

If the snowfall has been below average — par for the course in recent years— then your chance at some last-minute cross-country skiing would have already passed in late March.

Not this year.

The snowpack is so deep in parts of the north-central Colorado mountains, they’ll be plenty of snow to play in for several more weeks.

At Joe Wright Reservoir, just below the Cameron Pass summit west of Fort Collins, the snowpack is above 60 inches, according to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. That means that at the summit, the snow levels are 70 inches or above, which is well above last year and fantastic for any year.

That makes for great skiing — whether cross-country or telemark — and snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

Last week, I went snowshoeing on the relaxing Upper Michigan Ditch trail at the top of Cameron Pass, and I was joined by northern Colorado outdoors writer Dan England and his 9-month-old boy, Jayden, on his first such outing.

We were amazed at the amount of snow on top of the pass; neither England or I had been up there this winter.

“Even when it seems like other places have had bad snow years, Cameron Pass always seems to get its share of snow,” England said. “It’s the best place to go in the winter if you don’t want to drive six or eight hours.”

That sentiment is shared by Dan Evans, co-owner of The Mountain Shop in Fort Collins, in comparing Cameron Pass trails to those of, say, Rocky Mountain National Park. “Cameron Pass is always dependable.”

England said the trails at RMNP always seem to be iced down. But at Cameron, “there always seems to be enough snow to take the punishment.”

The trail we took had been heavily used, even by snowmobilers, which packed down the trail, but because of the snow’s depth, you still needed to have snowshoes — especially if you go off-trail.

So if you’re still itching for some fun in the snow, pack up the gear and head west on Colo. 14 up the Poudre Canyon — you’ve got a couple of more weeks to play.

If not, you can wait until late May and early June for what should prove to be a great runoff — good news for rafters and kayakers.