Make Boone your official winter base camp. Find entertainment, great food, and shopping downtown. A variety of cozy lodging options, from hotels to cabin rentals (many with fireplaces and hot tubs!) can be found in Boone and the surrounding area. Nearby ski resorts offer more than just skiing: there’s also snowboarding, sledding, snow tubing, and ice skating at the various resorts and parks. The Boone area boasts the largest snow tubing park on the East Coast, where you can also experience winter ziplining. After a fresh, natural snow, get in some cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. From beginners to experts, everyone will find lots of exciting things to do during winter in Boone.
Skiing & Snowboarding
Experience the best snow skiing and snowboarding in the Southeast! Since 1969, Boone area winter resorts have offered the longest and largest slopes in North Carolina. Explore all three ski resorts, each one within a short drive of downtown Boone, each with its own terrain park, and all offering rentals and lessons. There’s Appalachian Ski Mountain where the French-Swiss Ski College is located, Beech Mountain Resort (the highest ski area in the east!), and Sugar Mountain Resort with 20 slopes for you to explore.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, you’ll feel at home on these High Country slopes.
Ice Skating
Some of the High Country ski resorts boast enticing outdoor ice rinks surrounded by mountain vistas or striking resort architecture. That makes it convenient for some family members to head to the slopes or tubing runs while others step onto the rink. For the area’s only Zamboni-maintained ice rink, head to Appalachian Ski Mountain.
Both Appalachian Ski Mountain and Sugar Mountain resort offer multiple sessions during the day, so you can choose to skate exactly when it fits your schedule. Skating after dark is a special experience, so step onto the ice during an evening session while your friends or family go night skiing.
Each Boone area skating spot has rental skates available, and instructors are on hand to teach you the basics. You can even learn the not-so-basic moves of figure skating taught by instructors with impressive professional credentials.
Snow Tubing
Snow tube at the largest snow tubing park on the East Coast, Hawsknest Snow Tubing and Ziplining! Their park has over 30 lanes and four different areas to snow tube. Lanes are 400 to 1000 feet long with two conveyor lifts to bring you back to the top. Hawksnest has snow making and lighting on all lanes to provide the best possible conditions and fun for the whole family.
If you love snow tubing, why not try your hand at winter ziplining? In winter, zipliners can yell to their snow tubing friends from overhead.
Both Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain Resorts also offer snow tubing. Let gravity do the work!
Aprés Ski
Looking to unwind after a day of winter activities? With all the amenities you could need, Boone is the perfect basecamp to head back to after a day of fun in the snow. Warm up indoors or on a heated outdoor patio at one of our local breweries with a beer, cider, or hot cocoa in hand. When you’re ready for dinner, take your pick from one of the unique-to-Boone, loved-by-the-locals restaurants in town.
Whether you need a massage, want to explore local shops, or check out events happening in Boone, there’s plenty to explore and do off the slopes for evening entertainment.
