A round-up of places to ski, snow tube, zipline, and more in Western North Carolina
If you’re looking for family-friendly fun combined with cold mountain air, slick slopes, and sparkling snow, then a mountain cluster in Western North Carolina is calling your name. By driving no more than three hours northwest, you can ski, snow tube, zipline, and even ride an arctic rollercoaster. Whether you take a day trip or plan a weekend getaway, these parks, towns, and resorts offer winter thrills to enjoy with friends and family.
As an added bonus, many sites manufacture snow for mild Southern winters, meaning you can enjoy snow slopes no matter the winter temperature. Be sure to reserve tickets in advance to make the most of your winter sports trip.
Winter Sports Guide
Beech Mountain Ski Resort
At the base of Beech Mountain is an alpine village where you’ll not only find access to skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing but stores, a coffee shop, a lodge-style cafeteria, and Beech Mountain Brewery—a combination brewery, restaurant, and live music venue.
From the village, you can ski or snowboard West Bowl, sharpen winter sports skills at Powder Bowl, or fly down eight tube lanes. At Beech Mountain’s summit, enjoy a drink and soak in views from Skybar, a glass bar with an observation deck. Thanks to the resort’s snow-making system, the park offers an extended ski season.
Beech Mountain Ski Resort, 1007 Beech Mountain Pkwy., Beech Mountain, NC, 800.438.2093, beechmountainresort.com
Hawksnest Snow Tubing & Zipline
At this former ski resort tucked within the Blue Ridge Mountains, you’ll find a park with over 30 thrilling snow tube runs plus a zipline.
Travel between four main tube areas via a conveyor carpet lift that connects the tube runs, which range from 400- to 1,000-foot in length. As one of the largest snow tube parks on the East Coast, there’s a tube option for everyone in this park and plenty of runs to explore and experience. Want a bird’s eye view of the tubing action? Then don’t miss the winter zipline tour, which will send you flying above the snowy tube lanes.
Hawksnest Snow Tubing & Zipline, 2058 Skyland Dr., Seven Devils, NC, 828.963.6571, hawksnesttubing.com
Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster
There’s another type of exhilarating winter fun in this North Carolina mountain cluster, and it replaces tube runs with an alpine roller coaster.
Built by Germany’s top alpine coaster company, Wiegand Sports, the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster’s individual carts first ascend a 700-foot track and then loop, wind, and twist through 3,160 feet of track. “It’s very fast and a whole lot of fun,” says Eric Bechard, who co-owns the coaster with his wife, Tara. You can also find a clubhouse, observation deck, coffee shop, and gift store at the six-acre attraction in Banner Elk.
Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster, 3265 Tynecastle Hwy., Banner Elk, NC, 828.898.7866, wildernessrunalpinecoaster.com
Sugar Mountain Resort
On another mountain in another North Carolina resort town, there’s more fun to be had. Sugar Mountain Resort hosts snow tubing, iceskating, snowshoeing, and even a kids’ ski school. Reach 700-foot tubing lanes by a Magic Carpet Lift for nearly two hours of downhill fun, or venture to the 10,000-square-foot outdoor skating rink to glide across the ice near the tube park. Slow down by enjoying a casual guided snowshoe tour, or pick up the pace by request. Along with a children’s ski school organized into two age groups, the resort offers a restaurant, a sports shop, and a souvenir store.
Sugar Mountain Resort, 1009 Sugar Mountain Dr., Sugar Mountain, NC, 828.898.4521, skisugar.com
Complete Winter Sports Experience: Banner Elk
If you’re looking to enjoy extended winter fun and experience as much as possible, then Banner Elk is a great home base for the weekend.
The mountain town is home to Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster and conveniently located between Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain, two ski resorts with tubing and skiing options. Plus, Hawksnest Snow Tubing & Zipline Park is merely a half hour away. In Banner Elk, you’ll have access to outdoor attractions and more: there’s cozy winter lodging; upscale, casual, and family-friendly restaurants; wineries; and shopping.
For more information, visit bannerelk.com/postings/winter-is-better-here/.
A Shorter Drive: Hendersonville
Looking for a shorter excursion to winter fun? In only an hour from Greenville, you can arrive in Hendersonville, which offers more tubing options closer to home. Black Bear Snow Tubing has a tubing lanes that stretch nearly 600 feet. Fly down the hill at an 80-foot vertical drop, or watch others soar as you enjoy concessions from a heated lodge.
You can also head to Moonshine Mountain Snow Tubing Park, to tube solo or with others by forming a tube train. The park hosts a warming lodge with concessions and Southern Hawg, a food truck dishing authentic Carolina barbecue.
Black Bear Snow Tubing, 373 Kerr Rd., Hendersonville, NC, 828.685.1155, blackbearsnowtubing.com
Moonshine Mountain Snow Tubing Park, 5865 Willow Rd., Hendersonville, NC, 828.696.0333, moonshinemountain.com
