With cold and snow settling in before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday—options at the ski slopes will include the full list of mid-winter amenities. For many fun-seeking families, snow tubing will be a top priority.
Article by Randy Johnson
Even last week, Hawksnest Snow Tubing and Zip Line in the Town of Seven Devils was open all the way. The full array of four separate tubing areas was rippled with runs and zipliners were whizzing and whooping overhead. The big facility sits below the old Ski Hawksnest slopes based in the former ski resort’s rustic lodge. Other nearby ski areas have tubing runs (except for Appalachian Ski Mountain) but none are as extensive as Hawksnest’s, one of the East’s biggest tubing facilities and a Boone area favorite for families with a number of folks who may not be skiers.
The good news is that kind of holiday experience will be available all over the region.
Best kept secret—with the weather looking as great as it does—savvy holiday sliders should plan, and even buy tickets, ahead to get the times they want during what is likely to be a busy holiday. (You were warned!)
Tube trippers should check in on these facilities:
Sugar Mountain’s tubing run is fully open beside their ice skating rink. Their tubing and skating “Activities” webcam has been down but it’ll be back in the near future.
Exciting news at Beech Mountain where their tubing runs are brand new—and now open. Beech saw their first gliders on January 4th. The runs are located beside the village ice skating rink. The resort sells tickets two-hours in advance of sessions so that may be a strategy for scoring the time you want on a busy weekend.
Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing in Pineola will also be open this coming weekend.
Maggie Valley’s Tube World is operating on its regular schedule, four miles from Cataloochee Ski Area across from Ghost Town in the Sky. Check daily hours in advance.
Frozen Falls Tube Park at Sapphire Valley will likely be open this weekend, but check ahead.
Wintergreen’s tubing operation, The Plunge, is cranking, as is the kid’s play and fun area Ridgely’s Fun Park. Here too tickets are available in advance online and in person for Virginia’s largest tubing facility. Check out the This Week at Wintergreen newsletter for the latest on hours of operation.
Massanutten’s Family Adventure Park tubing facility is fully open. Virginia’s first snow tubing park opened in 1998 and was named “Best Snow Tubing” by Washingtonian Magazine in January 2014. Call 540-289-4954 between 7 and 9 pm for information on the next day’s available tickets.
Bryce Resort’s tubing park will be open Saturday through Monday over MLK weekend. Sessions can also be booked online in advance.
The Homestead is now skiing and the 5-star resort’s Penguin Slides Tubing Park is also open.
Winterplace bills its tubing park as the largest in West Virginia and it too is fully operational with two carpet lifts. There’s a special “add on” ticket that permits skiing and tubing.
Snowshoe’s Coca-Cola Tube Park at Silver Creek is going great guns. Call 877-441-4386 for more information or to book your time slot.
Canaan Valley Resort’s snow tubing park will open January 14 for the holiday weekend. Check out the report.
At Blackwater Falls State Park near Davis West Virginia, the park’s historic quarter-mile sled run is also open now and likely to have great conditions for the Holiday.
Wisp’s snow tubing facility is also open. Head to the resort’s tubing page for more information and hours of operation.
Bottom line—snow tubing is one of the South’s best ski vacation options and this holiday weekend—you will have it all. Reserve in advance. Think snow!