8,464 Acres and Climbing: Inside the Largest Ski Resorts in North America

Do you believe in the saying “The Bigger, The Better?” If you do, here is a list of the largest ski resorts in North America you should visit, ranked from smallest to biggest by skiable acres.

• Related: The 13 Largest Ski Resorts on Earth, Ranked by Size

This list will surely change as ski resorts begin to merge and develop. Many resorts are building new lifts and gondolas to increase the number of skiable acres people have access to. Deer Valley, for example, recently doubled its skiable terrain to 4,300 acres, with plans to increase that to 5,726 acres, which will put it sixth on this list. This ranking is ordered by skiable acres, the clearest way to measure the biggest ski resort by skiable acres.

It will be exciting to see how this list changes in the next decade.

The Largest Ski Resorts in North America: Canadian Contenders

11 Lake Louise, AB – 4,200 acres

Set against the postcard scenery of Banff National Park, Lake Louise offers a huge variety of terrain across four mountain faces, from gentle groomers to remote back bowls. It’s one of the largest and most scenic resorts in the Canadian Rockies, with a vertical drop of over 3,000 feet.

• Related: 11 Largest Vertical Drop Chairlifts in North America, Ranked

10 Deer Valley, UT – 4,300 acres

A luxury, ski-only resort in Park City known for impeccable grooming and five-star service, Deer Valley is in the middle of the largest expansion in ski history. It has already more than doubled to 4,300 acres for the 2025-26 season and is building toward an eventual 5,726 acres, which will eventually slot it in around 6th on this list.

• Related: Taking a Lap With Deer Valley, UT, President and COO Todd Bennett: How Culture, East Village Development, and Long-Term Vision Are Shaping the Resort’s Future

9 Mt. Bachelor, OR – 4,323 acres

A dormant volcano in Oregon’s Cascades, Mt. Bachelor offers true 360-degree skiing from its summit, with terrain dropping off in every direction. Reliable snowfall and one of the longest seasons in North America make it a Pacific Northwest standout.

8 Sun Peaks, BC – 4,400 acres

Canada’s second-largest ski resort, Sun Peaks spreads across three mountains near Kamloops and is known for being exceptionally family-friendly, with the majority of its runs graded beginner and intermediate. A charming ski-in/ski-out village and reliably quiet slopes round out the appeal.

Mid-Sized Giants Among the Largest Ski Resorts in North America

7 Heavenly Mountain Resort, CA – 4,800 acres

Straddling the California–Nevada border above South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly delivers arguably the best lake views in skiing alongside its sprawling terrain. As the highest resort in the Tahoe basin, it pairs big-mountain skiing with a lively base scene and casinos just down the hill.

6 Vail, CO – 5,317 acres

A true giant of American skiing, Vail is famous for its legendary Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin, which together hold thousands of acres of open and gladed terrain. Its sheer scale and polished European-style village make it one of the most popular destination resorts in the country.

• Related: The Top 9 Largest Ski Resorts Owned by Vail Resorts

5 Big Sky, MT – 5,850 acres

Crowned by the dramatic Lone Peak, Big Sky offers enormous terrain and a vertical drop of over 4,000 feet, with famously short lift lines for its size. It’s a big-mountain experience that rewards strong skiers while still catering to all abilities.

The Mega-Resorts: Biggest by Skiable Acres

4 Palisades Tahoe, CA – 6,000 acres

Formed by linking the former Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows via a base-to-base gondola, Palisades Tahoe is one of Tahoe’s premier resorts and host of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Its KT-22 face is a freeskiing proving ground with serious heritage.

3 Park City Mountain Resort, UT – 7,300 acres

America’s largest single resort, Park City was created by connecting Park City and Canyons under Vail Resorts. Its charming historic Main Street, accessible right off the slopes via the Town Lift, anchors a lively town-and-mountain scene, though after four decades as the home of the Sundance Film Festival, the event is decamping to Boulder, Colorado, from 2027.

Crowning the Largest Ski Resorts in North America

2 Whistler Blackcomb, BC – 8,171 acres

The largest resort in North America by lift-served terrain, Whistler Blackcomb spans two enormous mountains connected by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola. With over 5,000 feet of vertical, 30-plus lifts, and a buzzing pedestrian village, it’s the closest thing to Alps-scale skiing on the continent.

1 Powder Mountain, UT – 8,464 acres

The biggest resort in North America by total acreage, “Pow Mow” sits north of Salt Lake City and is famous for low skier density, capping ticket sales so guests average roughly an acre each. Much of its terrain is served by snowcat, shuttle, and gates rather than chairlifts. A planned Wolf Canyon expansion for the 2026-27 season is set to add roughly 1,000 more acres of lift-served terrain.