Southern California is not only home to beautiful beaches, but also has amazing sledding spots. If you live in one of the numerous cities in Southern California, the opportunity for good quality sledding is within close reach!
Finding the perfect sledding spot in Southern California is easier than you might expect. Just east of the coast are beautiful mountain ranges and forests that have plenty of snow for sledding, tubing, skiing, and snowboarding.
Seven of the Best Spots to Sled in Southern California
Here you will find a list of seven perfect spots to enjoy a day of sledding activities that will leave you and your family grinning from ear to ear.
1. Mt. Baldy Snow Tubing Park
First on the list is Mt. Baldy Snow Tubing Park which is located in the borders of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. This park is just 2 hours from L.A. and 3 hours from San Diego.
This park offers pristine runs that can be easily accessed by using their Sugar Pine chair lift. Mt. Baldy makes your tubing experience easy and stress-free as you can buy tickets online ahead of time and be on the hill sledding in less than an hour.
Ticket prices run around $40 to $50 and park hours are 8:30 am – 4 pm. Mt. Baldy offers as much as 70% discounts to those who purchase tickets online and in advance of their planned trip.
In addition to wonderful sledding, Mt. Baldy also offers 4,000 acres of skiing and snowboarding. If you get tired of sledding that is always an option.
If you are interested in this location (and who wouldn’t be) you can find out more information on their website.
2. North Pole Tubing Park at Mountain High
North Pole Tubing Park (officially know as Yeti’s Snow Park) also offers wonderful tubing and sledding hills. It is located just northwest of Wrightwood making it about a 2-hour drive from L.A. and a 3-hour drive from San Diego.
Yeti’s Snow Park charges $30 for a two-hour tubing session which includes rental of tubes in that price. In addition to that, there is a $20 parking fee that is charged upon entering the park. This park is open from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm.
You can’t buy tickets in advance so it’s best to get up to the hill early in the day.
It’s also only open during the winter season.
There is a ton of other things to do up there besides the tubing as well. It’s a very beautiful location and great for kids.
One suggestion would be to visit the park’s website before making the drive up there. Yeti’s Snow Park’s website offers detailed weather information, snow reports, and webcams. This is extremely helpful when preparing for a sledding adventure.
3. Snow Drift Tubing Park
Snow Drift Tubing Park is located in the beautiful mountains of Angeles National Forest and just west of Big Bear Lake. Snow Drift is Southern California’s largest and oldest park. It’s in Green Valley Lake, CA.
Not only do they offer a lot of terrain to sled on, but also provide specially designed tubs with belly straps and handles to ensure the utmost safety and comfort when sledding.
The tubing hills are organized by the experience of the sledder (beginner, intermediate, and advance).
This particular park charges by the hour at rates of $17 per person. In addition to that, children 36 inches or under get in free. Like North Pole Tubing Park, Snow Drift charges a $6 parking fee upon entry.
So you have some little ones who are looking to tube for the first time, this park is an excellent place to take them.
Their hours of operation are 10 am – 4 pm throughout the week and 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays. It can get a little crowded on the weekends.
An important note to make is that this park only accepts cash but also provide ATMs if needed.
4. Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain
If you want to take it up a notch, consider visiting the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. This park is located in the Bear Lake area and is upon year round.
The Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain is the only place in Southern California that offers an authentic bobsled experience.
That being said, this experience is much different from the regular sledding experience, in that, you will be whizzing by on a bobsled course at super fast speeds.
The Alpine Slide is open both in Summer and Winter. Riders go down a hill in a quarter of a mile long cement track and can control the speed they want to go.
In addition to the Alpine slide, the park also offers many other activities such as golfing, go-karting, and water slides.
Rates for the Alpine Slide average around $6.00 per rider. All rider must be a minimum of 36 inches tall. Operating hours vary depending on the season but are normally 10 am to around 5 pm or 6 pm. To get a more detailed list, visit the park’s website.
5. Palm Springs Aeriel Tramway
The Palm Springs Ariel Tramway sledding experience will be one of the most unique sledding experience that you will ever have. In order to reach the sledding hills, one must ride an Ariel Tram car up to the top of the mountain!
The tram itself is located just outside of Palm Springs and travels to an elevation 8,516 feet. The ride up to the top takes about ten minutes but offers great opportunities for sight-seeing and picture taking.
The sledding hills are located at the top and do not offer sled rentals. It is advised that one takes with them their own sled if they want to enjoy the snow at the top.
Tramway ticket prices average about $25 per person and sledding is free upon arrival at the top.
Make sure you pack the best toboggans and tubes if you want to enjoy this ride. It’s truly unforgettable.
If you visit the Palm Springs Aeriel Tramway website, you can see the weather cam and buy tickets ahead of time.
6. Pittsford Park
Pittsford Park is located in Lake Forest California which in between San Diego and LA. It’s only about 12 miles southeast of Irvine.
This sledding location offers a very unique sledding experience that is close to home. Every year the city of Lake Forest holds an event called SnowFest which offers sledding and snow activities.
SnowFest is held in Pittsford park and offers only a small sledding hill.
The festival is only a one day thing that is great for little children. It is usually held in January and normally offers three sessions for which you can buy tickets for.
The hill itself is blocked and sectioned off for sledding and the maintenance done on the hill makes sure it stays slick and sled-able for everyone who comes.
Ticket prices run at $7 per sledder. Tickets can only be purchased with cash when you come.
Before you set any plans, make sure to check the website for accurate sledding times and tickets.
7. Snow Day Los Angeles
For those who are from L.A. and want to get the sledding experience without leaving town, look no further than Snow Day Los Angeles. This winter-themed park offers more than 10,00 square feet of snow tubing.
The location only 5 minutes from downtown L.A. Everything is nicely decorated and is sure to be a blast.
The various tubing lanes vary in difficulty and are built directly onto giant hills using PowerPak synthetic material.
Prices are $12 to $45 for adults and $8 to $15 for kids. This may seem expensive but snow resources can be a little scarce in the area and it is a ton of fun.
Other Options
There are some other locations or solutions out there if you live in the Southern region of Cali besides some of these awesome spots on our list.
Find Your Own Hill
Nothing is more fun than going out into the forest and creating your own sledding trails. The key is to find areas that have plenty of snow to work with.
This is surprisingly not that hard in Southern California. A big chunk of southeastern California is all mountainous and provides great conditions for winter sledding.
You can also use big bags of ice on a grassy hill to sled down on.
Palomar State Park in Los Padres National Forest
Palomar State Park and Los Padres National Forest offer acres of trails for cross country skiing and also contain many snow-covered hills that are perfect for sledding.
Mount Pinos
In addition to that, Mount Pinos also located in Los Padres National Forest offers supreme conditions for sledding. Be prepared to pay for a one day pass in order to enter the park.