Over the years my wife and I have snowboarded all over the Western United States and Canada. It was a passion. The mountains just had a special pull on us. At one point, just about every weekend was planned around our trips to the mountain. That all came to a screeching halt about five years ago. It was a combination of things, we moved to the Central Coast of California which makes it a long drive to most of California’s premier ski resorts, and our oldest son was born. No regrets, but needless to say, we are ready to get back to the snow and with California’s recent storms there has never been a better time.
But our lives have changed and getting to the mountain looks a little different these days. Having two toddlers makes it a bit more difficult to hit the slopes so I’m playing the long game. I want to hit as many sno-parks with my toddlers as possible so they form their own love of the snow. Then in a couple of years, the transition to skiing or snowboarding will hopefully be a natural one.
After doing some research, I learned that there are 39 Sno-Parks in California (assuming I didn’t miss any). With so many potential options, I decided to dig in and figure out which Sno-Parks look like the most fun for the kids. Based on this, I created my top 10 list of parks to visit with the boys. Full disclosure: we have yet to visit all of these places, but my hope is that the time I spent compiling some of this information will save you some. Let’s get started!
Leland Snow Play | Strawberry, CA – On weekdays adults and children over 44″ are $35. Children under 44″ are $25. On weekends and holidays adults and children over 44″ are $49. Children under 44″ are $29. Children two and under are free. All tickets are for the whole day. They have an upper mountain that requires kids to be 44″ or taller, and a kiddie mountain for kids under 44″.
Woolly’s Tube Park & Snow Play | Mammoth, CA – At the revamped Woolly’s Tube Park you can catch a ride to the top on their brand new Magic Carpet, then mob down even longer lanes in a high speed snow tube. Please note that tubers must be 42″ tall to ride. A 2-Hour tubing session will run you $55 on a weekday and $65 on the weekend.
Snowdrift Snow Tubing Park | Running Springs, CA – Southern California’s largest & oldest snow tubing park. Admission is $20 per person, per hour. Children 36″ tall or under are free if accompanied by a paid adult. CASH only, but they do have an ATM.
Big Bear Snow Play | Big Bear Lake, CA – Children 36″ – 42″ must ride on the same inner tube with an adult 18 years of age or older, and must have a small child ticket. One-on-one adult supervision per child (36″ – 42″ tall) at all times. General admission is $40, small child ticket (36″- 42″ with paying adult 18 years of older) is $25.
Grizzly Ridge Tube Park | Big Bear Lake, CA – Riders must be at least 42″ tall and a minimum of 40 lb. Prices range $45-$49 per person based on peak and holiday dates. Located at Snow Summit, the Grizzly Ridge Tube Park offers four 300-foot tubing lanes and high-speed tubes.
Badger Pass Snow Tubing | Yosemite National Park, CA – $30 per person, per 2-hour session. The Badger Pass Ski Area Snow Tubing area is ideal for kids at least 42″ tall and 50lbs. The tubing hill does not have a conveyer belt like most resorts, so any renters will be responsible for getting their tube to the top of the hill.
Tube Tahoe | South Lake Tahoe – For 1.5 hour sessions general admission + tube rental (Ages 13 & Over) is $65. Child admission + tube rental (Ages 6-12) is $55. Mini Tubers (ages 3-5) are $35 and must ride in a tube with a paying adult at all times.
Palisades Tahoe | Olymipic Valley, CA – Snowtubing is for adults & kids at least 40″ tall. Snow tubing sessions are 55 minutes long and begin at the top of the hour. It costs $42 on weekdays and $54 on weekends and blackout dates.
Tahoe Snowmobile & Tubing Hill | South Lake Tahoe, CA – Children up to 42″ tall may ride in the tube with an adult. 1 adult can ride in a tube at a time. 2 adults may swap out riding the snow tube during the rental time. One hour sessions on Monday – Thursday are $50. One hour sessions on Weekends and Holidays are $55.
North Pole Tubing Park | Llano, CA – Children under 36 inches tall are not permitted for safety reasons. Children 36 to 42 inches are $15 and must accompany a parent in a separate tube. Tubing is $20 from 8:30am to 10am, then it goes up to $25 from 10:15am to 4:45pm.
After reviewing tons of Youtube videos and reading through numerous websites I’ve narrowed our options down to these ten sno-parks for the kids. There are tons of places that you can sled and tube for free but I know from experience it can be a little sketchy with kids when you are not in a controlled environment. So with that, these are my top picks to visit this year and I hope to see you out there with your kids.
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