Wanting to go on a fun, winter weekend adventure snow tubing or skiing? We’ve got the best places to go within a couple hours’ drive of Greenville, SC for winter fun.
If you haven’t dreamed of sipping hot chocolate inside a ski lodge and cozying up in front of a hot fire while reminiscing about your time on the slopes, this is the year to dream and make it happen. And the good news is that you don’t need to go far at all from Greenville, SC to have an awesome winter adventure.
These recommendations are all places that we’ve been to personally and have enjoyed with our families. They are also all open after the hurricane and are truly in need of tourism. We need them to be there for years to come! So you can not only plan a great weekend with your family but also help WNC businesses to stay afloat.
Where To Have a Winter Weekend Adventure
Sapphire Valley in Cashiers, NC
The Sapphire Valley Resort hosts skiing and snow tubing usually starting in mid-December. Their target opening date is December 14th, 2024. They also have an amazing thing called the Great Outhouse Race, which consists of outhouses decorated in all kinds of interesting themes that race on skis down the mountain. It’s even more than it sounds, promise. That happens President’s Day weekend.
The resort itself is beautiful and every time I’ve gone, I have used AirBnB or VRBO to book a condo. You can purchase the amenity card for a few dollars per person and that gives you access to the warm indoor pool, sauna, fitness center, and game room. The Sapphire Valley Resort is only about 90 minutes from Greenville.
Maggie Valley, NC
Maggie Valley is right next to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and just beautiful. They have a main street area but it’s along a busy highway so you’ll need to use your car to move around to different shopping areas. The shops have all local goods and they are just adorable.
Maggie Valley also has great snow tubing and skiing at Cataloochee. At the time of writing this (2024), they are open for the season! We recommend staying at Buffalo Creek Vacations, a bison ranch 25 minutes away that has cabooses and cabins perfect for families. As if that’s not enough incentive for staying at such a cool place, Buffalo Creek participates in the Kids Stay & Ski Free program where kids ages 17 and under are able to ski for free with a paid adult on non-holidays Monday-Friday (they must stay on the property on a non-holiday Sunday-Thursday and ski the next day). For example, if two parents buy two lift tickets, then two kids get their lift tickets for free.
Beech Mountain, NC
Beech Mountain is known for their beautiful ski resort and amazing views. They will open for the season on November 28th, 2024. We especially love Beech Mountain for their family-friendly aspect. They have really awesome restaurants for families, an adorable general store in the middle of town with one of the best breakfasts you’ll ever have, and free/cheap activities around the mountain.
In the winter, they offer free snow tubing on a hill in the middle of town plus, of course, their ski resort. We stayed at the Pinnacle Inn Resort, a collection of condos and rentals right in the middle of the action at Beech Mountain, provided by Beech Mountain Chalet Rentals. We could walk to three restaurants, the general store, playgrounds, and the Visitor Center. It was the perfect location plus it has a warm indoor pool, sauna, steam room, and fitness room.
Nearby is Sugar Mountain, which also has a ski resort. We have not been there but it is another option in the area.
Blowing Rock, NC
Another quaint mountain town, Blowing Rock has the Appalachian Ski Mountain nearby, which is perfect for families. They will open on November 27th, 2024. Classes taught by the French-Swiss Ski College at Appalachian Ski Mountain are beginner, intermediate, or private. After trying out the bunny slope and managing the stops and starts just fine on our own, we opted to not take the ski class but when we head back up this season with all of the kids, I’ll definitely sign the younger ones up for the class.
The hills at Appalachian Ski Mountain are not so intimidating that a beginner is terrified, but they are plenty challenging enough for when your son or daughter (or you) become a bit of an “expert” after spending a day on the slopes. It’s a small enough mountain too, with one main ending spot for all of the slopes, that you can feel confident allowing your older children the freedom to go down slopes without you if that’s more your speed as well. In fact, those facts make it an excellent choice for beginning skiers and skiing families.
We’d recommend staying at the Hemlock Inn right in downtown Blowing Rock. The rooms are so beautiful and cozy and the owner is very kind.
Hayesville-Highlands Outpost, NC
Even though the Magical Mountain Resort and the Highlands Outpost are about an hour apart, we still think pairing these two places for a weekend getaway is perfect because the resort is just that amazing. It’s a fairy tale-themed resort with Alice in Wonderland cabins, a Harry Potter Midknight double decker bus, and so many more amazing and whimsical cabins. Highlands Outpost has amazing snow tubing and a mountain coaster. They are currently open for the 2024 season.
Lanier Islands, GA
Just a two-hour drive from Greenville lies Lanier Islands in Georgia. You really don’t even need to leave this place for your weekend of fun since they have snow tubing, restaurants, and a game room and arcade all on site. Snow tubing happens at Margaritaville at Lanier Islands and the tubing run is an astounding 575 feet long! They also have ice skating and a play area where you can have snowball fights. All of the winter activities are now open for the 2024 season.
We visited in the warmer months and have all you need to know about the local area, best place to stay, places to eat, and things to do in addition to the snow fun at Margaritaville.
Where will you go weekend adventuring this winter?
Looking for more places to ski? Don’t miss our list of places to hit the slopes and ski or snow tube near Greenville, SC.
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