North Lake Tahoe is a winter playground like no other. You are never too old or too young to throw a snowball, build a snowman or just admire the spectacle of winter in the mountains. When our surrounding lower elevations are rainy and cold, we have lots of outdoor, snowy activities to get kids outdoors all day. We all know Tahoe is a downhill skiing paradise, but there are plenty of options for the nonskiers in the group too! Below we've included some great local tips for those wintertime kid-friendly activities.
Sledding!
Sleds, saucers or tubes - pick your ride and fly down a hill with your friends. Sledding is without a doubt one of the most fun activities for kids in winter. It involves no skills other than a need for fun and adventure. These are our top sled hills in the area.
Soda Springs Tube Town has a magic carpet that will bring you up the hill so you can go down over and over again without having to climb up the hill.
Tahoe Donner Snowplay has groomed snow tubing hills.
Palisades Tahoe not only has world-class slopes for skiing and snowboarding, but they also have a great snow tubing hill!
Northstar Hike and Tube is at the top of the Big Springs Gondola.
Ice Skating!
North Lake Tahoe is also home to many great outdoor ice rinks where you can put on some skates and glide around, with views of beautiful snow-capped mountains.
Tahoe City Winter Sports Park has a great ice-skating rink with skating aids available for rent to help those who are just trying it for the first time.
Truckee-Donner Regional Park is a huge outdoor rink offering season passes and even has a warming hut to host a winter birthday party or family gathering.
The Village at Northstar offers Friday night DJ. Get out on the Ice while dancing to some great music!
Snow Play!
There are plenty of parks in North Lake Tahoe that are even more fun when covered in snow! Get out there and have that snowball fight.
Granlibakken has a great snow park with sledding, and a bunny hill perfect for first the little ones and first-timers.
North Tahoe Regional Park has a playground, sled hill, and groomed cross-country routes.
And there is only one way to top off your outdoor play.....HOT COCOA!!
Nothing tastes better than a warm cup of cocoa after a day of playing in the snow. Here are our top picks for hot chocolate in North Lake Tahoe:
Coffeebar in Truckee
Sweets Handmade Candies not only has amazing hot chocolate, but handmade chocolates that make great holiday gifts.
Tahoe City Chocolates is another haven for chocolate lovers. Stop in to warm up and get your sugar fix.