To be perfectly honest, we haven't done much snow adventuring at all. The extent has been some snow ball fighting and snowman building at home when we get a little dusting every once in a while. Our middle daughter, Madeline, has been asking to go snow tubing for years now, so we were determined to make it happen.
The "official" snow tubing places, like the Autobahn Tubing Park or the Mt Hood Ski Bowl are only open on the weekends, and we are more of a mid-week adventuring family.
We asked around and looked online and found that the Little John Sno Park in the Mt Hood Territory offered snow play hills just for inner tubes and sleds. This really seemed more our style; we could play and hang out as we pleased. We bought a couple of inflatable snow tubes off the internet, then packed up and set out early on a Friday morning.
When we arrived, the parking lot was completely empty. We had the whole place to ourselves!
There are two steep hills, and a couple of smaller hills that are perfect for all levels of snow tubing adventure.
Chris and Oliver immediately set out to the top of the steepest hill.
Their first couple of runs down were surprisingly fast! What we didn't realize is that the runs were very slick. It hadn't snowed for a few days, so the snow that was covering the ground had been melting a little during the day, then refreezing at night. We were there early in the morning, so the tubes were speeding down the hill.
The girls and I went down together starting at a lower spot. That was a little more our speed.
While the first hill was slick and steep, the second had lots of bumps which would cause us to catch some air as we went down.
Chris and Oliver ventured down from the top, while the girls and I started half way down. At the end of both runs, there are smaller hills that will stop you from flying down into the trees. While the snow was icy and slick, we would make it all the way up the little hill and back down before coming to a stop.
We stayed for hours taking turns going down these runs. No one else showed up the entire time we were there!
As the sun warmed things up, the slickness started to lessen. We could hear the tube grinding against the loose snow, which slowed it down significantly. If we had started the day later, we would have a whole different idea of the intensity of snow tubing.
We also had snow ball fight breaks, because, why not?
After hours of tubing and playing in the snow, we decided to pack up and head home. Chris and I honestly thought the girls would be over it shortly after we arrived, but were pleasantly surprised everyone enjoyed it so much. Finding more recreational snow activities is now something we are actively seeking! We are planning on going East toward the Sisters area to find a new adventure next!
Where do you like to play in the snow? If you don't already, follow us on Instagram (@wildfororegon) to see videos and other pictures of our excursions.
If you can't make it out to the snow covered mountains, you can always find the crisp breeze in our Mt Hood Collection.
