Sharp Snow Tubing Park -- Milton, VT
Where
204 Cobble Hill Road, Milton, VT 05468
Visit Website
| 802-879-3507
| sharppark@comcast.net
Details
Cost: Sledding is free. Tubes available for rent.
Parking: Yes
Sharp Park is the only snow tubing facility in northern Vermont with three chutes to channel snow tubes downhill. Some slopes are gentle and suitable for toddlers or small children in their parent laps. Older children and adults can enjoy a more thrilling ride down a quarter mile chute (similar to a bobsled track) with five sweeping banked curves or a very steep ride off the Plunge.
They don't make snow at Sharp Park so they need at least six inches of snow to open. Sharp Park is a walk up site with no lifts.
Bring your own sleds and snow tubes and pay only a $10 gate fee for parking. They rent snow tubes for $25. They have 80 tubes now. There are no time limits on snow tube rentals and no minimum height requirements.
Helmets are mandatory for children 18 and under, so either bring your own or borrow one of theirs. Helmets are free of charge.
Hours of operation
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends during the winter when there is adequate natural snow for sliding and daily during the Christmas holiday week and school break in late February. Check their website for an update on conditions before leaving home.
Warming Barn
Sharp Park has a post and beam warming barn (modern structure built in 2009) with a bathroom, tables and chairs and space for birthday celebrations. Hot chocolate, cold drinks and snacks are available.
Birthday Parties
Sharp Park offers birthday parties for $28 per child. They provide tables and chairs for up to 40 in their heated barn for the birthday celebration, a snow tube for each child, a hot chocolate and a party favor (suitable for children 7 years or older). Call for details.
Reviews
- February 17, 2014"Miss Magpie's flock headed to Cobble Hill with some friends to try the tubing hill with kids ages eight to fourteen. Though all had a good time, Miss Magpie has some safety concerns that parents should be aware of. View a video of our experience here. The hill is divided into two halvesan upper that has the steeper hill and chute and the lower which is a moderate, short incline. The conditions were described as 'fast' with packed snow and a frozen layer on top. The biggest concern is that it's almost impossible to steer in a tube the hill's contour does it for you and it's easy to become a bowling ball heading down a hill full of bowling ball pins i.e. people. We found that most people walking up the hill after their run did not clear to the 'safe side' and that created a dangerous situation. In fact, one of the more experienced tubers in our group ran headon into a hill walker that did not clear. Both were hurt and shaken. Another thing to watch for is when upper hill tubers tube all the way down into the lower hill with younger tubers. Again, this may be a dangerous situation. Sharp's Park can be a fun, exhilarating adventure but we encourage everyone to be aware of their surroundings and walk up the hill on the safe side always looking out for oncoming tubers. And we strongly recommend that EVERYONE wear a properly fitted helmet. Wearing a helmet likely saved our tuber from a concussion. Business Owners Response Thank you for the review of tubing at Sharp Park. The video was great. Nice music. We were of course very concerned about the end of the video. This was our first year with a lot of people on the hill. We learned a lot about running a tubing operation safely. You came on one of the fastest days of the winter when it was possible to achieve high speeds. We failed to properly control your group and others to prevent your group from the collision at the end of the video. Perhaps we should have closed the upper portion of the hill that day. You are right that people do not clear the chutte quick enough after sliding. We will more clearly designate the danger zone and direct people to clear the chutte more regularly. We have also produced a panphlet instructing people on safe sliding procedures including clearing the chutte. We also plan to physically separate the lower portion of the chutte from the younger tubing hill. We insist on helmets and always direct people to look up hill and be aware of people sliding around them. Safety and risk management are the most important aspects of what we are doing. Conditions change. With a lot of snow we can allow people to slide from the steeper slopes safely. With ice and hard pack that may become too dangerous and we will close that portion of the hill from now on. Glad your flock didn't get seriously hurt. Thank you for your review and the video. Rick Sharp coowner of Sharp Park"- missmagpie
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