Updated October 29, 2026 — snow tubing parks usually open in December once they can make snow. Dates and prices below are what's posted so far - ill keep updating as more info starts to show up!
Not sure where to start? Answer five quick questions and we'll match your family to the right spots — plus what's actually on this week.
Sometimes we want sledding in the neighborhood and other times its a trip to go tubing. Totally different vibe and both can be super fun. Winter is coming. Get prepared for winter and get your sledding gear ready!
Quick answers
Where to go sledding near Boston with a little kid?
Millennium Park in West Roxbury has the gentlest slopes, and Larz Anderson in Brookline has small runs next to the big one. Flagstaff Hill on the Common is the one you reach on the T. Prospect Hill in Waltham is for kids who want to go fast.
Where is the closest snow tubing near Boston?
Nashoba Valley's tubing park in Littleton and Ski Ward in Shrewsbury, both about 45 minutes out. McIntyre in Manchester, NH is about an hour; everything else is 90 minutes or more.
How old does my kid have to be to snow tube?
Every park makes each person ride their own tube, no laps. Nashoba takes kids who are 6 or 42 inches tall; Ski Ward wants 6 and 42 inches. McIntyre and Pats Peak are 5 and 44 inches. Yawgoo is 42 inches with no age. Powder Ridge in Connecticut has no minimum, but the kid rides the lift alone and the park recommends 6 and up.
When do the tubing parks open?
December, once there's a run of cold nights for snowmaking. As of October 29 none of the Massachusetts or New Hampshire parks has posted a 2026–27 opening day. Check the park's snow report the week you want to go.
Free sledding hills in and around Boston
No hill below has a snow report, so the rule is simple: go the morning after a real storm, before the runs get icy and before the crowd. Most likely you’re not traveling for sledding and just accepting whatever is in your neighborhood. If you happen to get in the car or the T to sled, check out these notable options.
Flagstaff Hill — Boston Common
📍 Boston Common, near the baseball field | 👶 All ages | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
The in-town hill, on the news every time it snows. Long, wide and even, with the bottom running out onto flat lawn. It gets crowded fast, which is the trade for being two blocks from Park Street station. Public bathrooms are at the Visitor Center on Tremont Street, and the Frog Pond is right there if the sledding falls apart.
Larz Anderson Park — Brookline
📍 Newton St and Goddard Ave, Brookline | 👶 All ages, with small slopes for the littlest | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
The town's own page calls the grassy slopes "a premier spot for sledding," which is as close as a town gets to an endorsement. The big hill drops from where the mansion stood, skyline view included, and there are shorter runs lower down for a three-year-old. Parking lot, restrooms, and the outdoor skating rink at the top if you want to make a day of it. Brookline Parks page.
Danehy Park — Cambridge
📍 99 Sherman St, North Cambridge | 👶 All ages, steeper than it looks | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
A capped landfill that's now one of the highest points in Cambridge. The runs are short but steep, so you get speed without a long walk back up. Parking lot off Sherman Street, and it fills on a snow day.
Millennium Park — West Roxbury
📍 300 Gardner St, West Roxbury | 👶 All ages, best of the list for toddlers | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
Another old landfill, this one covered with Big Dig dirt, with gradual slopes on more than one side so you can pick a pitch to match the kid. This is where I'd take a two-year-old for a first run. Big free parking lot, restrooms, and room to spread out.
Robbins Farm Park — Arlington
📍 61 Eastern Ave, Arlington | 👶 All ages | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
The best skyline view of any hill on this list. The main run is long with a wide flat at the bottom, which is what you want with a kid who can't steer yet; there's a smaller hill lower in the park. Street parking only, playground for when they're done.
Prospect Hill Park — Waltham
📍 314 Totten Pond Rd, Waltham | 👶 Older kids | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
Long and steep, a former ski hill, for the kid who has outgrown the Common. Park in the north lot off Totten Pond Road; families sled the bottom section, the top is a hike. Not a toddler hill.
Elm Bank sledding hill — Wellesley/Dover
📍 Elm Bank Reservation, Parking Lot A | 👶 All ages | 💲 Free | ☀️ Outdoor
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society's hill, and the only one here with rules posted: the gate opens dawn to dusk only on days with two or more inches of natural snow, through a winter entrance at the northwest corner of the soccer fields. Toboggans, plastic and foam sleds and tubes are fine; skis and snowboards aren't. The posted policy covers 2025–26; the 2026–27 version wasn't up as of October 29. Mass Hort sledding page.
Where you can't sled
The National Park Service bans sledding at Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights, steep hills that end on sidewalks, and on any plowed snow pile. That second one is a good rule everywhere: plow piles hide ice and whatever the plow picked up.
Snow tubing parks near Boston
How it works at all of them: you buy a timed session online, usually two hours, show up early to sign a waiver, and a lift tows you and the tube back up. The park supplies the tube. Fresh snow and warm days slow the lanes down, the opposite of what you'd guess.
Nashoba Valley Tubing Park — Littleton (about 45 min)
📍 179 Great Road, Littleton | 👶 6 and up or 42 inches tall | 💲 $49 for 2 hours (2025–26 price, still posted) | ☀️ Outdoor, lodge with snack bar
The biggest one near the city: up to 18 lanes, two lifts, groomed nightly, at a separate address from the ski area in Westford. Tickets are a two-hour block, sold only online and in advance, and the park says plainly that they sell out. Last season it ran Wednesday to Sunday, to 9pm most nights. No 2026–27 opening date yet. Nashoba tubing park info.
Ski Ward TubaSlide — Shrewsbury (about 50 min)
📍 1000 Main St, Shrewsbury | 👶 6 and up and 42 inches tall | 💲 $25–$27 for 2 weekday hours, $36–$38 weekends and holidays, $20 for 1 weekday hour (2025–26 rates, still posted) | ☀️ Outdoor
Smaller and cheaper than Nashoba, up to 12 lanes and two lifts. The weekday one-hour ticket is the right amount of tubing for a six-year-old. Weekend sessions start at 10am, noon and 2pm; Thursday and Friday run 4pm to 8pm, the closest night tubing to Boston. Your whole party has to be there to pick up tickets. 2026–27 dates and prices not posted yet. Ski Ward Winter TubaSlide.
McIntyre Ski Area — Manchester, NH (about 1 hr)
📍 Manchester, NH | 👶 5 and up and 44 inches tall, no exceptions | 💲 $40 online, $45 in person, 2-hour session | ☀️ Outdoor
Seven lanes with their own snowmaking and grooming. Tickets are capped by how many lanes are open, so buy online and pick them up 30 minutes before your session with ID. Opening date not posted. McIntyre tubing rates.
Pats Peak — Henniker, NH (about 1 hr 45 min)
📍 Henniker, NH | 👶 5 and up and 44 inches tall | 💲 $34 for 2 hours | ☀️ Outdoor
The cheapest two-hour ticket on this list, and the park makes you ride on your stomach and drag your feet to slow down, which some kids love and some hate. Fridays 3pm to 9pm, Saturdays 9am to 5pm plus a separate 5pm to 10pm night ticket, Sundays 9am to 5pm. Tickets go online once the park knows its opening day. No 2026–27 date yet. Pats Peak snowtubing tickets.
Yawgoo Valley — Exeter, RI (about 1 hr 30 min)
📍 Exeter, RI | 👶 42 inches tall, no age minimum | 💲 2026–27 prices not posted yet | ☀️ Outdoor
The south option, with the lowest bar for a small kid: 42 inches and you're in, no age. Tubes can be linked to go down as a group when conditions allow. Everything is sold online, and they won't refund a kid who turns out to be under 42 inches, so measure at home. The site says "see you back on the snow December 2026." Yawgoo snow tubing.
Farther out: Powder Ridge and Bousquet
Powder Ridge, Middlefield, CT (about 2 hr 15 min) has no age, weight or height rule, but your kid has to ride their own tube and take it up the surface lift alone; they recommend 6 and up. Sessions are 1 hour 45 minutes, helmets included and required, and some nights are "Interstellar" tubing under strobe lights. The site says tubing starts Black Friday; prices show on the booking calendar only. Powder Ridge winter passes.
Bousquet, Pittsfield (about 2 hr 30 min) is 42 inches, 90-minute sessions, 100% snowmaking; a Berkshires weekend thing, not a day trip. Bousquet snow tubing.
What I left off, and why
Wright's Tower at the Fells, Borderland, Blue Hills. People sled at all three, but none of the DCR pages list sledding and I couldn't confirm a named hill with parking.
Golf courses. Several are famous local hills and several ban it. Not listing any until I've checked each town's rule. Sled at your own risk
Common questions
How much does snow tubing cost in Massachusetts?
Roughly $25 to $50 a person for a two-hour session, including the adult who's just along. Ski Ward's weekday tickets are the floor at $20 to $27 and Nashoba's $49 is the ceiling, both last season's posted prices. Pats Peak is $34 and McIntyre $40 online.
Is there night snow tubing near Boston?
Ski Ward runs Thursday and Friday 4pm to 8pm, Nashoba went to 9pm most nights last season, and Pats Peak sells a Saturday 5pm to 10pm ticket. Dress for it; 7pm in January on a tube is a different cold.
Is snow tubing open yet?
Not as of October 29, 2026, anywhere on this list. Check the park's snow report, not its hours page, which at several parks still shows last winter.
This guide is one branch of our bigger list: 150+ Things to Do With Kids in the Boston Area has the year-round version, sorted by age, cost and whether it's indoors.
Bookmark this one — I'll update it as the parks post 2026–27 opening days and prices. If you want the weekly version (what's actually on this weekend), subscribe to Boston Family Calendar. It's free and it comes out every Wednesday.
Dito from Boston Family Calendar
