Dodge Ridge Skiing and Strawberry Sledding

Looking for a great snow experience without the long drive up to Tahoe? I love Tahoe but with traffic (and kiddie food stops) the drive can be more than 5 hours. If you are looking for something closer you should check out Dodge Ridge.

Over the holiday we headed up to Twain Harte to visit family and spent two days at the Dodge Ridge Ski Area and one day sledding at Strawberry. Dodge Ridge is a pretty predictable 4 hours from Palo Alto and closer if you are in the East Bay. Our drive up to Twain Harte is usually under 3 hours.

Here are some things to like about Dodge Ridge other than the drive.

1. Your kids won’t mind that it is a smaller resort than Squaw or Northstar even if you do.
2. The lift tickets are significantly less expensive than the big Tahoe resorts
3. You can actually park pretty close to the resort (no charge)
4. The have ski school, private lessons, and a good learning hill
5. Half day ski rates are a pretty good deal so you may want to start at 12:30, especially if skiing with younger kids
6. Kids 5 and under are free

A couple tips if you are going to go. Consider the group lesson package for kids, particularly if you are renting skis. They give you a 2.5 hour lesson, skis, and lift tickets for about $90. They also manage the ski rentals for you so you don’t have to wait in the rather long rental line with the kiddies.

If you need to rent, you may want to consider stopping at Heidi’s on the road up to Dodge Ridge. My cousins tell me the line is shorter, the equipment is better, and the prices lower. We did wait in a very long rental line on our second day of skiing.

If you want to try some sledding, you can head over to Strawberry. Leland Snow Park offers groomed hills, lifts and a lodge to warm up in. There are informal sledding hills that are great for the smaller kids right around the Strawberry Inn.