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| | California | High Sierra | Lake Tahoe | |||
| Lake Tahoe - Winter | |||
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Lake Tahoe gets many feet of snow in winter, turning it into a fabulous area for winter sports. The ski resorts offer a wide variety of kids' ski programs, from children ages 3 and up to experienced junior skiers. Skiing and snowboarding isn't the only option, there are sleigh rides, tubing, sledding and ice skating. And sight of the lake itself is a marvel, it never freezes over. | |
| Tip: Start toddlers with inexpensive plastic skis, but don't just put them by themselves into ski classes day after day. Some days, take your little kids skiing with you – go down the bunny hill with them between your legs. In ski classes, little ones also enjoy having a friend along. |
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Heavenly Mountain Resort – Heavenly typically gets more than 360 inches of snow, and is easily accessible from South Lake Tahoe. The Heavenly Children's Ski and Snowboard School has ski and snowboard programs, for kids ages 4 -13, including rental equipment, helmets, lunch. There's also a ski/play and daycare for toddlers. It's a good idea to reserve in advance. | |
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Heavenly Village Ice Rink – What could be more fun than twirling around ice, fairy lights twinkling under a deep blue sky. The rink opens on Halloween, and is open daily from November through the end of the season. Skate rentals included. | ||
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Sleigh rides – In Stateline, next to Heavenly Village, go for a 35 min. sleigh ride in an old-fashioned European sleigh. Blankets are provided but dress warmly. Pick up the Borges sleigh rides across from Caesar's. | ||
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Homewood – Kids ten and under ski free with a paying adult. At the Children's SnowSports School, there's ski instruction for kids ages 4 - 10 (includes lift tickets and rental equipment, all day program includes lunch), snowboarding for ages 7 -10, and private one hour lessons available for kids ages 3 - 10. (Reservations recommended). | ||
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Alpine Meadows – At Alpine Meadows, the ski school really makes it fun for little kids. Along with lessons, there is lunch with hot chocolate, movies and a playroom. For bigger kids there is the Junior Mountaineer program, skiing and snowboarding. Programs include ski equipment and lift tickets. | ||
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Squaw Valley – SquawKids Children's Center has instructors for skiing and snowboarding, starting at kids ages 3 - 6 for skiing, 6 -12 for snowboarding, Junior Mountain ski lesson 7 -12 year olds, plus arts and crafts, snow play for little ones. (Advance reservations are recommended.) Kids will also enjoy ice skating, snowshoeing, tubing, sledding, sleigh rides, dogsled tours, and a ride in the cable car, 2,000 ft up for a snowy panorama of this lovely valley. | |
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Northstar-at-Tahoe – Northstar-at-Tahoe has toddler programs for kids age 3-4 and their parents (including free lessons), children's ski and snowboard lessons for beginners to advanced skiers, tubing, ice skating, snowboard adventure park, and childcare for little ones. | ||
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Kirkwood – On the weekends, Kirkwood offers Junior Expeditions classes, for experienced skiers, kids ages 6 -15. The Ski and Board School has ski and snowboard instruction for kids 4 -12, plus there's snowshoeing and cross country skiing for kids - children 6 and under ski free. For the non-skiers there's ice skating, tubing, dog sled rides. | ||
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Snowplay areas – | ||
 Tahoe
Meadows (Sheep Flat) – Want to get away from it all, to just play
in the snow with your own stuff? On the Nevada side, the south side of Mt.
Rose Highway (highway 431) is just for sledding, snowshoeing and cross country
skiing. It's a flat area, with no developed facilities, so need you bring
everything you need, but it's lovely to just get out and throw a few snowballs,
play in the snow, and enjoy the high Sierra scenery. Parking lot and public
access. |
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| Granlibakken
Lodge (Tahoe City) – Just outside Tahoe City, Granlibakken Lodge
has a snowplay and sledding area. Sleds can be rented for the whole day. |
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| Soda
Springs Winter Resort – Soda Springs has tubing and sledding, geared
to younger kids, plus mini-snowmobiles for kids ages 6 -12. This is very
close to Interstate 80, just before Truckee, so it's great for a day trip
to play in the snow. |
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| Trout
Creek Recreation Center (Truckee) – During the winter, next to
the Trout Creek Recreation Center is a snow play area on the weekends. Tickets
include sleds (use the sleds they provide to keep the snow nice). |
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Travel for Kids has lots of fun things to do with kids at Lake Tahoe in winter, but you'll need a fun place to stay. Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels in and around Lake Tahoe, all styles and price ranges, in areas near to the ski resorts: |
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Lake Tahoe family hotels | ||
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