Our FREE Sledding Adventure!

Our boys received these sleds for Christmas from Grandma last week (thanks, Grandma!). We had to take some time out of this winter break to put them to use.

We’ve not had sleds before, I’m sad to say, other than last year when we were buried in the Arctic Blast and picked up a couple of saucers at a local Fred Meyer. We broke those within a few days, so we were pretty happy to get these new ones.

We headed out yesterday, early in the morning and arrived at White River West Sno Park. This particular park is undeveloped, and allows the use of sleds. The best part? IT’S FREE!

White River Sno-Park is located about on Highway 35, about 4 miles north of the Highway 26/35 junction. The parking lot is nice and big, and there are bathrooms on the left of the entrance. Be aware, however, that you MUST BRING YOUR OWN TOILET PAPER. This is not as important to me, but it might be for you.

Trek up the hill from the parking lot and start walking, the river on your right. As you walk about 100 yards, there will appear a variety of hills. The first set is great for little kids, as it isn’t very high or steep.

Walk a little bit farther and there are several ungroomed hills to choose from, some more treacherous than others. Choose a spot and start sledding!

The surroundings are gorgeous, and if you get to the park early enough, there’s nobody else there besides the occasional snowshoers or cross-country skiers. We were heading out by noon after a few hours of fun, and the sledders were just showing up, intertubes and sleds packed with picnic bags and buckets of soda. We even saw a family carting in some firewood…

We didn’t go that far, but we did pack in our lunch and bottles of water, eating between zipping down and climbing back up what we dubbed “Wilson Family Hill.”

I highly recommend the White River West Sno-Park for a variety of fun activities, including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or hiking. I should also mention that if you decide to go and don’t yet have a Sno-Park pass, don’t forget to pick one up on your way! They are only $5 for the day.

If you’d like more information about this and other Oregon parks, read all about Oregon Sno-Parks here!