2024 Update: Wolf Ridge Ski Resort is now Hatley Point. They no longer offer snow tubing.
Find options for snow tubing here in our list of 13+ places for skiing and snow tubing in North Carolina & Beyond.
Are you looking for a nearby place to take your kids snow tubing near Greenville and Spartanburg SC? Recently, we took our kids to Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park in Mars Hill, NC (near Asheville) for a day filled with snow tubing fun. In this article, we’ll give you the full scoop of what to expect at Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing, how to plan your trip, and even where to eat.
Days with enough snow to enjoy snow sledding are few and far between in the Upstate SC area and even when a good snow comes it can be difficult to get to a good hill for sledding due to icy roads. We decided to treat our kids with a day of snow this year by taking them to Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park in nearby Mars Hill. This snow tubing park is under 2 hours from Greenville and Spartanburg and is open as weather permits in the winter.
For more snow tubing suggestions see our list of places to snow tube in Western North Carolina.
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Our Review of Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park
What does it cost to tube at Wolf Ridge?
Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park is part of Wolf Ridge Ski Resort but it’s located right outside the ski resort. Tube rental is:
- $20/hour ($25 on weekends and holidays)
- $30/2 hours ($35 on weekends and holidays)
- Kids 5 and under are free with paid adult (yep, you read that right — free!)
You can purchase tickets online.
If you’re a homeschool family who comes Monday-Thursday (not holiday/break weeks), it’s only $15/person with proof of homeschooling. No reservations are needed.
What to Expect at Wolf Ridge
At the park, there is a heated office where you register. We were immediately impressed by how friendly the management was. Inside the shed was a rack of snow bibs in all sizes available to borrow (a real perk for us southerners that don’t own proper snow attire).
The bathrooms at Wolf Ridge Tubing are just porta-potties but they were actually clean (at least when we arrived first thing in the morning). Maybe we just hit it at the right time but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clean porta-potty. There isn’t a place to change though so make sure you keep your layers simple enough to handle in a car.
Parking is free and right beside the park. You could even see the tubing hill from your car if you needed to grab a snack or help a kid change a wet layer. This park would be fairly easy for a parent that is solo to be able to keep track of multiple kids.
Tubing at Wolf Ridge
You will find one hill that is 60 feet wide at the top and 100 feet tall. While the hill doesn’t look very big from the outside, it’s definitely a fun and fast ride and from the top, it suddenly looks a lot higher. It is a manageable hill for even smaller children and we saw kids of all ages having fun.
There is a conveyor belt to help you pull your tube back up the mountain. The tubes are a little heavy but have a pull string. We saw even little kids managing their tubes.
There are no designated lanes. This really reduces waiting in line. We went on a Saturday and even with a number of families at the park there was very little waiting for a turn to tube.
Wolf Ridge does allow you to link your tubes and ride down as a long chain. You are also allowed to let children ride in the tube with you. The rules were fairly simple making it easy to let your kids just have fun.
One of the best parts of snow tubing, when you live in Upstate SC, is your kids get to play in the snow. We’ll admit that while our kids certainly had fun snow tubing they also just had fun running around and playing. Several snow ball makers were scattered in the snow so that the kids could make snow balls.
Where to Eat Near Wolf Ridge
Snow tubing is great exercise and you will definitely be hungry so we were really thankful that the staff had a number of great suggestions for lunch. The food near Asheville is always delicious so you definitely should sample it while in the area.
- Blue Mountain Pizza in Weaverville
- Twisted Laurel in Weaverville & Asheville (Greek)
- Papa Nick’s in Mars Hill (Italian)
- Stackhouse in Mars Hill (Gourmet Burgers)
We chose Stackhouse in Mars Hill and were not disappointed. The menu had a wide variety of burgers and sandwiches. I was particularly impressed that the kids’ menu while being kid-friendly and affordable offered some great choices including several different types of sliders. I know that my kids always look disappointed when we eat at a really interesting restaurant to find that the kids’ menu only has a couple of boring choices.
On the way home, we looped through Asheville to get dessert at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. This dessert restaurant is so good that there is almost always a line just to get in. They sell a liquid truffle which is a thick version of hot chocolate that you eat with a spoon. They also have cakes, chocolates, ice cream, and more and it’s all really good. The only problem you will have is choosing what to eat.
All the details on Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park
Wolf Ridge Ski Resort recommends not using Google Maps to arrive at the resort and tubing park but instead to use the directions on their site.
You can check the daily snow report to find out whether tubing is open and what the current snow conditions are in the area.
Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Park is open seven days a week.
Phone Number: 828.689.3322
Wolf Ridge Snow Tubing Website
This might be fun for very small children if you don’t want much of a slope. The conveyor belt didn’t work. My 9 and 12 year old children didn’t even want to try it. This was the only one not completely booked that day….. there was a reason.