5 Of The Best Family-Friendly Winter Sledding Destinations In California

Winter is a great time of year for outdoor adventures and play in the snow. If you're lucky, you might have a slope for sledding right near your house. But for most Californians, doing some family sledding or tubing this winter means heading up to the mountains and valleys around Tahoe or inland from Fresno. Fortunately, there are plenty of family-friendly and cost-friendly sledding spots in the wintry areas of the state. The trick is finding the best ones.

You see, not all sledding slopes are created equal. Some are renowned for having fresh snow and numerous sledding and tubing runs, while others cost too much for the amount of fun you can feasibly have. For a parent trying to entertain kids during the colder months, driving hours to a sledding area for only 45 minutes of entertainment can be very frustrating. Fortunately, California has 18 SNO-Parks along with various private companies offering tubing and snow play. What makes these SNO-Parks so great is that they offer pretty consistent sledding while costing only $15 for a day parking permit or $40 for the entire season (at the time of writing).

To help you find the most family-friendly sledding spots in California this winter, we've compared these SNO-Parks to public and private snow play areas, such as resorts. We've referred to official California State Parks information for the SNO-Parks, while also looking at family bloggers based in California and Google and Yelp reviews to determine where your family can get the best experience for a reasonable price. We've prioritized those with family-focused elements and great cost-to-amenity ratios. Here are our picks, in no particular order, of where to take your family sledding in California.

About 120 miles from Sacramento, Spicer SNO-Park is a family-friendly sledding destination just off Highway 4 near Bear Valley Village. Parents who have been to Spicer know it as one of California's better options for young kids, as it offers ample space for them to run around, go sledding, and get into friendly snowball fights. The park also allows dogs if you have a furry family member eager to join the fun.

"Great little snow park we went to this week. Plenty of parking and space for the kids to play," one visitor wrote on Yelp. The amount of parking does seem to be another benefit here, but many people recommend purchasing your $15 day permit in advance to avoid unnecessary headaches. Once you have this, you shouldn't need to pay anything else to enjoy a day out in the snow here, aside from gas, of course.

Spicer SNO-Park isn't just a great spot for sledding. You can also go cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. There's also ample space away from the parking lot to build snowmen and just play around in the snow with your kids. The area is forested, so just wear helmets and stick to the open runs if you are sledding. Many people choose to sled and play close to the parking lot, but this area is a bit flat and busy. You can find better sledding spots further in that provide more space for making precious winter memories. "Our little one's face was filled with pure joy as she experienced snow for the very first time," another happy parent wrote on Yelp. "It was as if watching a little snow angel come alive."

Fallen Leaf is a public sledding spot near Fallen Leaf Lake, one of the few scenic California lakes known to be less crowded than Lake Tahoe. It's located just off Highway 89, where it connects with Fallen Leaf Road, so you'll need to park on the highway's shoulder. It's essentially one hill and, depending on when you visit, you may have to share it with a lot of people.

However, Fallen Leaf is free to use and is regularly highlighted as a great place to take the kiddos sledding. It's even suitable for small children, such as toddlers, to play at its base or go tubing. Like any public slope, you'll need to bring your own gear and walk up it, but there is a little fenced area where people can leave sleds they no longer want for anyone who doesn't have one.

Still, it's best to come prepared with gear and even food if you feel like spending a while here. The slope is a picturesque spot to hang out, with snow-sprinkled trees and plenty of fresh powder depending on recent snowfall. You're also right next door to South Lake Tahoe, California's lakeside paradise with secret trails. It's a convenient spot for Tahoe locals looking for an hour or two of entertainment. If you're coming from elsewhere in California or out of state, you may want to choose another, more varied sledding destination on this list.

North Tahoe Winter Adventures is technically an outfitter for snowmobile rentals, but they also have sledding and tubing slopes that are usually free to use if you pay for parking. The cost to park here ranges from $20 to $30, depending on when you visit. You may have to pay a $5 entry fee on some days, but it's pretty inconsistent. This is still a lot cheaper than most resorts in the area, especially if you have a full car.

Bring your own gear and choose from multiple sledding hills ideal for kids of varying ages, even little ones. The lower, flatter hill is usually better for parents with small children, while the steep sections are a lot of fun for older kids and adults. Some people rate the slopes closest to the entrance higher than the rest, but you can also enjoy more privacy by finding little runs in amongst the trees further in. "Free and great place for kids to play in the snow," one visitor wrote on Yelp.

You can find this particular sledding destination on the northern reaches of Lake Tahoe in Tahoe Vista. It's about an hour's drive from Reno or a little more than two hours from Sacramento. They have bathrooms on site, and the slopes are well-maintained most of the time to ensure optimal sledding and tubing. People spend hours here with their families, and it consistently wins parents over with its friendly, casual atmosphere.

Fresno locals have a highly rated sledding and tubing spot only 1.5 hours' drive away from their home city and California's gateway to Yosemite National Park. Tamarack is one of California's best SNO-Parks, providing ample space for additional outdoor activities, such as snowmobiling, dog sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. For families, this is a consistently great place for kids to play, sled, and get out among the state's magical winter nature. "Peaceful, scenic, and perfect for a snowy outdoor adventure with family or friends," one visitor wrote on Google.

Tamarack SNO-Park can get a lot of snow during the season. This helps keep it entertaining for little ones wanting to make snowmen or have snowball fights. While the sledding here gets a lot of praise, people also recommend bringing helmets due to the number of trees. The toilet is also one of those long-drop varieties, so bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer just in case.

If you get tired of Tamarack, you have other nearby SNO-Parks you can try, including Coyote, Eastwood, and Huntington Lake. Coyote is the closest, only two minutes' drive away, but Eastwood and Huntington Lake are within a 20-minute drive, too. You can easily make a day of it here, SNO-Park hopping from one sledding destination to the next. The best part is, once you purchase a $15 day parking permit for one SNO-Park, you're covered for the others as well.

At the time of writing, Woolly's is easily the most expensive sledding spot on this list, costing $29 per person for access to the Snow Play Area, where little ones can ride the mountain resort's surf sleds. Snow tubing, on the other hand, costs $65 per person for a two-hour session or $50 for one-hour twilight rides. The price of admission may not make Woolly's a legitimate candidate for all families. However, it's so highly rated on Google, Tripadvisor, and Yelp, especially by parents, that it's impossible to leave it off this list.

The variety of slopes at Woolly's Adventure Summit makes it suitable for families with big age gaps among their children. "Perfect for our 11- and 10-year-old girls, but our four-year-old wasn't interested in the big hills. They had a [...] small sledding hill for younger kids that she liked," one parent wrote on Yelp. Little ones in the Snow Play Area also benefit from the staff instructors who can help them sled safely and enjoy the experience as much as possible. Kids and adults riding the snow tube slope, meanwhile, are in for fast-paced thrills racing each other down the lanes.

Woolly's Adventure Summit is part of the Mammoth Mountain skiing and snowboarding area, so you can combine sledding with these other fun activities. Woolly's Mountain Coaster is also open for most of the year, reaching speeds of 25 mph as you twist along the track. The Winter Adventure Pass gives you two hours of unlimited access to the coaster, tubing, and snow play for $95 per person. Unfortunately, Woolly's can be a bit of a pain to get to. It's over six hours' drive from Fresno and almost five hours from Sacramento. Reno is a little closer, taking just over three hours.

For this comprehensive list, we looked at the various sledding destinations throughout California, including the state's official SNO-Parks, private resorts, and public spots listed by family bloggers or on review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor. We made sure that the chosen destinations were not only highly reviewed online but also appealed to parents with children of various ages. To do this, we looked closely at individual reviews on Yelp and Google, making sure that they mentioned kids, friendly atmospheres, and other family-focused elements. We prioritized options with strong cost-to-amenities ratios, such as SNO-Parks, free spots, and resorts with consistently high reviews from parents.