9 Top Tahoe Winter Resorts Where You Can Bring the Whole Family

Kids at Northstar California Resort learn their turns from the experts: The resort’s ski and snowboard schools welcome children aged 3–14. The Village at Northstar features more family-oriented fun, from outdoor ice skating to fire pits with hot cocoa and s’mores. You don’t need to ski or snowboard to enjoy the winter slopes here, either. There’s lift-served snow tubing on a bump- and berm-filled course that both kids and adults will love.

Billing itself as Lake Tahoe’s “best place to begin,” Tahoe Donner has three carpet lifts that make it easier for newbies to get up the slopes. Lessons at the ski and snowboard school are available for family members as young as 3, and kids can get silly at this resort’s dedicated Snowplay area, which includes sledding, tubing, and room for snow angels, snowmen, and snowball fights. Parents can get their turns in, too, since childcare is available at the resort’s Kids Club.

Insider tip: Don’t miss the fresh donuts—they’re available hot from the fryer at the Snowplay area.

With 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares) of skiable terrain across two mountains, Palisades Tahoe is the largest winter resort in the Lake Tahoe area. Lessons are available for kids as young as 3 years old, and there’s a seasonal craft and game room during the winter holidays that hosts creative play for kids. The SnoVentures Activity Zone includes a snow-tubing area, too, where visitors 40 inches (101 centimeters) and taller can sign up for hour-long sessions.

An intimate resort atmosphere and varied terrain make Sugar Bowl a family favorite. Kids 12 and under qualify for discounted lift tickets (and tickets for children under the age of 6 cost less than your average après-ski beer). Signing up for kids’ ski and snowboard lessons earns families access to free and slope-side parking. Beginners will find lots to explore in the mellow terrain of the White Pine ski zone.

Insider tip: Walt Disney® was an early Sugar Bowl investor—be sure to snag a selfie by the Goofy statue by the Disney® lift.

Children 6 years old and younger ski free at Diamond Peak Ski Resort, whose 28 trails carve through 655 acres (265 hectares) and 1,840 feet (561 meters) of vertical. Older kids can shred the Village Terrain Park’s boxes, jumps, jibs, and rails, while beginning skiers will enjoy the gentler slopes on beginners’ trails like Schoolyard and Lodgepole. Lessons at the Child Ski Center welcome learners as young as 3, who can use a surface lift ideal for first-timers.

The littlest snow bunnies can take their first turns at the Soda Springs Woodward Start Park, a practice area with foam blocks, learning boards, and more. This long-running resort is designed for fun beyond the slopes, too: Kids can hop on sleigh rides pulled by rugged Jeeps on snow-ready tracks or slide around at Tube Town. Specifically designed for children ages 7 and under, Soda Springs’ Planet Kids is a wintry playground featuring a mini magic carpet, tubing carousels, and even snow volcanoes.

Insider tip: Mountain Adventure passes include access to both the Woodward Start Park and Planet Kids.

Located just south of South Lake Tahoe, this spot is easy to access from Sacramento, and it offers lots of family-friendly programming. Designated “Slow Zones” set the pace for beginning skiers and riders, who can warm up with fireside s’mores and hot cocoa at the resort’s Blizzard Mountain fire pits. There’s also room to build snowmen or stage a snowball fight near the Sierra-At-Tahoe tubing hill, which features an old-fashioned rope tow to save tubers a long uphill hike.

Not every family has ski-ready kids, which is why Heavenly’s off-slope childcare welcomes visitors from 6 weeks to 6 years old. Half-day and full-day lessons cater to kids as young as 3, while the 500-foot (152-meter) snow tubing area has a magic carpet to whisk tubers to the top of the slopes. Nearby Heavenly Village also offers ice skating at the only outdoor rink in South Lake Tahoe, where families can whirl and glide beneath twinkling lights.

Related: 3 Days in Tahoe for First Timers

With its big annual snowfalls and plentiful advanced terrain, Kirkwood Mountain Resort has a well-earned reputation as one of Lake Tahoe’s more challenging winter destinations. Families with advanced skills will love it, and kids aged 3 to 14 can hone their ski and snowboard technique with half- and full-day lessons. But not all the focus is on downhill play—a cross-country ski and snowshoe center provides a chance to travel overland through rolling terrain.

Insider tip: Do your kids love snowshoeing? Sign up for a snowshoe tour with a guide that leads you through avalanche-free, family-safe areas.