Downhill Thrills—No Skill Needed

Skiers and boarders aren’t the only ones sliding down snowy Boone area slopes. Snow tubing and sledding are exciting winter offerings in the NC High Country. Anybody can let gravity whisk them though the cold mountain air.

Tubing Specialists
Hawksnest Resort is the East’s biggest tubing area, with twenty runs from 400 feet to 1,000 feet and an exhilarating 100 feet of vertical descent. Easy-to-use conveyor lifts bring riders back to the top, and the resort’s atmospheric lodge is the perfect place to get warm, grab a bite, relax with a drink by a roaring fire, or spectate from the deck. Buy tickets in advance online to be sure you get the session you want. Multiple daily sessions run through 6 pm. on weekends.

Zip Above it All

The adventurous slide high above the snow on the Hawksnest Zipline — the East’s largest zipline network. A suspension bridge and ten separate cables add up to a mile and a half of aerial winter fun.

Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing

Three tubing lanes with snowmaking and a surface lift are open day and night six miles south of Linville on NC 181. Visit Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing online for more information.

Tube at the Slopes

Sugar Mountain Resort’s multi-lane tubing facility features 700 foot runs and a conveyor lift back to the top. Day and night sessions are adjacent to parking lot D.

Ski Beech has a new tubing run behind the Viewhaus cafeteria; indoor spectators can watch and stay warm at the same time!

Sled The Old-fashioned Way

This traditional—and free—form of winter fun is found all over the Boone area.

The Blue Ridge Parkway
When natural snow covers the ground, head to the Parkway’s popular hill at Moses Cone Park in Blowing Rock. Multiple faces offer runs from easy to edgy. From the US 321 Business/US 221 junction in downtown Blowing Rock, turn south on US 221 and go one mile to the junction with the Parkway and Shull’s Mill Road. Park by the hill along the access road to the Parkway’s Maintenance facility.

Beech Mountain
There’s a free and family friendly sledding hill in the East’s highest town of Beech Mountain — with snowmaking, so the fun can continue even without natural snow. Park in the sledder’s parking area on the right just as you crest the top of Beech Mountain Parkway above Banner Elk.