Where to Play in the Snow along Highway 108
Sno-Parks
Sno-Parks are parking areas maintained in the winter to allow people to park safely and pursue winter activities such as cross-county skiing or snowmobiling. They have pit toilets available. To use a Sno-Parks you must have a permit. You can purchase a day permit for $15 or an annual pass (Nov. 1 - May 30) for $40. They are good at any California Sno-Park and any Sno-Park in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Sno-Park passes from those states are good in California.
Sno-Park passes can be purchased online for an extra $1.95.
Highway 108 Sno-Park
Two Sno-Park parking lots (north and south) are set up near the end of the plowed portion of Highway 108 about 6 miles east of Strawberry. Popular activities there are snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and "limited snow play."
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River Otters Run - Dodge Ridge's Snow Tubing and Snowplay
Open Saturdays and Sundays (weather permitting)
Dodge Ridge Resort recently opened a conveyor-lift accessed snow tubing hill and snow play area. Check their website to be sure weather permits the area to be oepn: Dodge Ridge.
Children must be at least 42 inches tall to ride the tubes by themselves. Children between 36 and 42 inches can ride with a parent or guardian. Children under 36 inches in height can enjoy the snow play area with snow tools snow toys provided. Children under 36" to 42" inches must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who has also purchased the appropriate ticket. Those taking the tube hill can ride to the top on an easy-to-use conveyor lift.
Snow Tubing Prices
Dodge Ridge Snow Tubing offers 2-hour tickets for its tubing hill for $30. Access to the snowplay area is $15 for the entire day (ages 3 and under are free). Everyone must have their own wristband to be allowed in the tubing/snow play area, even guardians.
Purchase tickets onsite, first-come, first-served.
Hours: 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM (Sessions begin at 9:30, 11:30, and 1:30)
Days Open: Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting
Snow Play Safety
Parking along Highway 108 can be dangerous. Children are often unaware of the danger of passing cars on the highway. Find a place that is well off the road. Keep children away from the highway where cars are passing at high speeds.
Snow Play Trash
Trash left behind by some people who stop along Highway 108 to play in the snow has become a major problem. Some popular areas are strewn with discarded trash by the end of a snow play day. Visitors to the snow should make sure to clean up and take away with them everything they bring, from empty water bottles to broken saucers. We will all enjoy the mountains more if they are clear of trash.
Leland High Sierra Snowplay
Leland High Sierra Snowplay is a privately operated snow park for sliding and other snow play activities. It is located 39 miles east of Sonora, California, off Highway 108, at an elevation of 6,300 feet. On its 12 acres, Leland High Sierra Snowplay Area (also known as Leland Meadows) has several tows and snowcat-groomed hills for sliders. It is a popular place for families and groups who want a safe place to enjoy the winter slopes. See Leland High Sierra Snowplay.
Lower Elevation Snow Play Areas
Parking is often a main consideration when looking for a place to pull completely off the highway and let the kids out to frolic in the snow. Soon after a recent snowfall is usually the worst time to find parking. The best way to increase your chances of locating a safe pull-out is to wait several days after the last snowfall, allowing Cal-Trans a chance to plow.
Once you are above Sierra Village you are, for the most part, in the Stanislaus National Forest. The area around the Lyons Reservoir Road has some wide parking areas and some respectable nearby hills. At the same time, you are close enough to several small towns to find restroom facilities and a cup of hot chocolate.
Long Barn is another area that often has parking available. Sliding hills can be found nearby, but be sure you are not on private property. Unfortunately, there are no businesses available at Long Barn for restrooms unless you are staying at the Long Barn Resort.
Cold Springs is another place where you could find safe parking. Once again you want to avoid private property, but there are plenty of Forest Service hills nearby.
Little Sweden
(No Longer Available)
Little Sweden, the county's first ski resort, was for many years a popular sliding hill along Highway 108, but also a hazard and eye-sore. Some visitors to the Little Sweden slopes parked illegally along the highway in places that were dangerous. At the same time, trash became a serious problem. Changes to the Little Sweden hillside by the current property owners have eliminated it as a possible destination for snow play. Those looking for a good place for family fun should head on up the road to Leland High Sierra Snowplay or somewhere else that is safe.
Pinecrest
Although there are no obvious hills for sliding, Pinecrest makes a good place to take small children to play in the snow. The restroom facilities at the picnic area are open all winter. The ice on Pinecrest Lake is not safe. The Forest Service advises everyone to stay off the ice.
