Sledding on Mt Hood is the easiest way to give a family a mountain day without buying anyone a ski lesson. Government Camp sits at 4,000 feet, gets snow reliably from December into April, and has options from a free hill with a plastic saucer to a lift-served tube park with a hot chocolate stand. Here's the rundown, plus the permit and chain stuff that trips people up.
Summit Pass: the family classic
Summit Ski Area, on the east end of Government Camp right off Highway 26, is the oldest ski area in the Pacific Northwest and now operates as Timberline's Summit Pass. Its tubing hill is the go-to for families: groomed lanes, a carpet lift so nobody hikes, and tubes provided. Sessions run in timed blocks (usually 90 minutes or two hours) and sell out on weekends and holidays, so book online ahead. There's a lodge with food, restrooms, and a fire. Kids need to meet a minimum height, typically around 42 inches, so check before promising a three-year-old.
Parking is in the Summit lot, included with your tubing ticket. This is the low-drama option.
Skibowl: tubing plus everything else
Mt. Hood Skibowl, on the west end of town, runs its own tube hill in the Winter Adventure Park at Skibowl East, along with a kiddie snow-play zone and the Cosmic Tubing sessions on weekend nights with lights and music. Cosmic Tubing is a genuine hit with teenagers. Skibowl also does night skiing until 10pm most nights, so a parent can tube with the little ones while the older kids ride. Buy tickets ahead; the tube hill has capacity limits.
Free hills at the Sno-Parks
If you brought your own sleds and don't need a lift, several Sno-Parks around Government Camp have informal sledding slopes.
- Snow Bunny Sno-Park, about 2 miles east of Government Camp on 26 toward 35. Historically the designated snow-play area, with a gentle hill perfect for small kids. Vault toilets. Fills early on weekends.
- White River West Sno-Park, on Highway 35 about 10 minutes past the 26/35 junction. Huge open snowfield with Mt. Hood right there. Sledding is unofficial but everyone does it. Wide enough to spread out. Very exposed, very windy some days.
- Trillium Lake Sno-Park, mostly for skiers and snowshoers, but the first hundred yards of road grade works for sledding little kids.
All of these need an Oregon Sno-Park permit (daily, 3-day, or annual) from Nov 1 through Apr 30. Buy one at any gas station or ski shop in Sandy, Welches, or Government Camp, or at the DMV. Tickets for parking without one are common and not cheap.
Sled safety, the un-fun paragraph
Sno-Park sledding is unmanaged. Trees, other sledders, and creek beds are real. Plastic saucers go fast and don't steer. Helmets for kids are a good idea (a bike helmet works). Stay off anything with a road or parking lot at the bottom. And never sled on or near the ski runs at Skibowl or Summit without a ticket; it's dangerous and they'll stop you.
Getting there and getting home
Highway 26 from Sandy up to Government Camp is a chains-or-traction-tires road in winter, and ODOT means it. Carry chains even in a 4WD, because the sign that says "chains required, traction tires allowed" sometimes flips to "chains required on all vehicles." Check TripCheck before you leave. The drive from Mt. Hood Village to Government Camp is 20 minutes on a good day and an hour on a Saturday snow day when everyone from Portland is coming up. Leaving Government Camp by 3pm avoids the worst of the downhill line.
Warming up after
Government Camp has enough to feed a cold family: Mt. Hood Brewing for burgers, Huckleberry Inn for pie and 24-hour breakfast, Ratskeller for pizza. Our Government Camp food guide has details. Then head back down the hill.
Which is where Wildwood Basecamp earns its keep on a snow trip: the private hot tub for grown-ups, the bunkhouse for kids to pile into with wet socks off, a full kitchen for chili, and a covered spot to dry out sleds and boots. Eight people, dogs welcome, 20 minutes below the snow line so the driveway is usually clear. Other winter ideas for the mountain are on our Mt. Hood things-to-do page.
Bring the permit, bring the chains, bring more socks than seems reasonable. The rest takes care of itself.