When it comes to winter, Melissa Rugh would rather just not deal with it. The Bellefonte resident isn’t a fan of freezing temps, blustery wind, and thick layers of ice on her car. But as a mom of two daughters, keeping them cooped up in the house from late November to mid-March isn’t an option.
Although her youngest is now a teenager and her oldest in her early 20s, Rugh still makes them get outside for fresh air. One activity they love to do together? Sledding. The three will bundle up and head to some of their favorite hills in order to take a little break from hibernating.
“It’s important to get out even for an hour here and there, and sledding is a great way to get some exercise in while having fun,” Rugh says. “I don’t like being cold, so I wear a lot of layers and I still make sure the kids do, too.”
One of the more popular areas in State College to go sledding is Slab Cabin Park. Located on Elmwood Street in Lemont, the hill is about 300 feet long and angled at about 45 degrees.
Lisa Timko of Zion brings her kids there every winter.
“It’s a great spot for sledding so we make sure to go once a year, but it does get pretty crowded because it’s one of the more popular places to go when it snows,” she says. “You just have to be careful when you’re hiking back up the hill — you don’t want to get hit by anyone that’s coming down.”
Timko and her 7- and 13-year-old daughters use saucer sleds and plastic toboggans at Slab Cabin Park, but she says the hill is so steep she doesn’t usually let the youngest, Brianna, go alone if it’s crowded. The hills, she says, make the sleds go fast and she worries it would be too much for her to control on her own.
Before heading out she makes sure they have warm layers on, waterproof boots, snow pants, hats, gloves, and scarves, but emphasizes that if it’s too cold they won’t go out. After about two hours of sledding-filled fun, they come home and have hot chocolate and toast to warm up, while watching movies.
According to Centre Region Parks and Recreation, sledding in the evening at Slab Cabin Park is an option too, if the daytime is really crowded. The park has a few streetlights on timers, set to go off at 11 p.m.
In Philipsburg, borough councilman Sam Womer recommends a hill that juts out above the local ballpark, known locally as Parky Hill.
“It’s just a short grassy hill for the kids to sled on and they seem to love it,” he says. “It’s about 200 feet long — the nice thing is, parents can keep an eye on their kids the whole time. We recently put four park benches in for them to sit and watch the kids play.”
Womer says the borough always makes sure the grass is mowed so no one has to contend with long grass sticking out from the snow, and there’s room for cars to park if people need to drive to get to the hill.
“If it’s a weekend and there’s snow on the ground, I know the kids are there too,” he says.
While Bellefonte assistant borough manager Donald Holderman could not think of one particular hill that locals love to go to when it snows in his borough, he did recall one of his favorite places to go a few years ago.
“When my daughter was little, I would take her to Bald Eagle State Park in Howard,” he says. “There is a wonderful sledding hill there.”
According to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, there are about 5 acres of a cleared hillside, perfect for sledding. The slope is accessible from Skyline Drive near Pavilion 5, and it is an impressive 1,320-foot run.
There’s also good news for people itching to sled even when there’s just no snow on the ground. Tussey Mountain resort’s director of marketing, Aaron Weyman, says that they not only make snow for the ski slopes, they also make it for the tube park.
“I believe in snow tubing and the fun that people experience with it, but I grew up sledding at a local hill and know how much fun that can be, too,” Weyman says. “They both have their advantages, but I know our guests appreciate the fact that we build and maintain the track, provide the tubes, have staff and medical personal on hand, restrooms and a cafeteria nearby, and, most importantly, have a pulley lift system that removes trekking back up the hill for your second, and third, fourth, fifth runs.”
According to Weyman, the tube slope is about 500 feet long, and the handle-tow lift eliminates trudging back up the hill in slick snow. Park rates this year are $32 for an all-day pass and $25 for three hours.
There are also some popular little hills on Penn State’s campus. It’s well-known that after a big snowfall, students will improvise their own sleds (hide the Walmart baskets and cafeteria trays) and take off for the hills by the Bryce Jordan Center. Other hills in the area can be found at Kaywood Park in Harris Township, and Orchard Park in the State College borough.
Rebekka Coakley is a freelance writer from State College.
