Ski Roundtop is a mountain resort that has fun activities throughout the year. During the winter, their main activities include skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing. We headed to Ski Roundtop on a late Saturday afternoon to try the “kiddie tubing hill” with our 3-year-old. Snow tubing can be an expensive outing, but kiddie tubing for ages 4 and younger is very low cost compared to the big hill at Roundtop.
 |
| Kiddie Tubing Hill |
The mountain is a few miles from Interstate 83, and there are signs leading there after exiting 83. We turned into the parking lot that had a huge “Snow Tubing” sign, and climbed out of the car. Be careful! While the parking lot was alright for driving, there are patches of ice. After getting our little one bundled up in snow pants and a heavy coat in the lodge, we headed outside to sign waivers and pay for tubing.
 |
| Large Tubing Hill |
Even though we were planning to just supervise our child and not snow tube ourselves, we still had to fill out the waiver forms. We paid at the window, and the 3-year-old got a tag for her coat. The kiddie hill is on the other side of the large hill, so you must walk past the queuing area for the large hill. It is a slightly narrow walkway, and we had to watch people who were sliding their large snow tubes into our path. At the kiddie hill, there are smaller tubes with different designs. Of course, it was difficult to decide which tube was the best. I pointed out a blue one with snowflakes, and that became the winner.
There are three lanes for the kiddie hill, and many more lanes on the large hill. We waited until the lane was clear and gave her a push. The tube can spin a lot, so we were concerned at first that she would not like that. At the bottom of the hill, an attendant will take the lead of the snow tube and return your child to you. We had to walk fast to retrieve her at the base of the hill, but running down is not really needed since the kids just wait in their tubes to be handed to their parents. Thankfully, she seemed to love the fast ride and the spinning. I would ask after each ride if she wanted to take a break, but she wanted to do it over and over again.
 |
| The “Magic Carpet” |
For the kiddie hill, it’s a short walk back up and not extremely steep. The large hill has a “Magic Carpet” covered area that you can stand on and be taken up the hill. It was a little under 30 degrees that night, and my bundled 3-year-old tubed for 45 minutes, took a short break to warm up in the lodge, and then tubed for another 20 minutes. It was worth the drive and the cost, since she is still talking about how fast she went down the hill the next day.
The lodge has a snack bar, complete with the usual foods. I saw a lot of people eating pizza and french fries, and of course, drinking hot chocolate. There is a fire pit outside the lodge, as well as a nice fireplace inside to get warmed up. It was very tempting to try the large hill that night, but kids must be five years old to use it. We also have a Double Take Deal to use at Avalanche Express in York, so we’ll wait to try the big hills there.
Things to Remember:
1. It’s obvious, but bundle up. I had on three pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves.
2. Check out the live webcams on their website. They can show you the conditions and the size of the crowd.
3. Have your child hold the rope on their tube when they go down. Sometimes it gets caught under the tube during the slide and slows them down.
