This past spring, I set myself a goal: learn to ski park. My journey started learning to slide rails in the Gold Coast Park at Palisades Tahoe, California. In the summer months, I continued to learn by skiing Forest Trail and Main Park at Mammoth Mountain, California. Finally, this past month, I enjoyed skiing at an awesome early-season park at Northstar, California. I have fallen in love with the flow of park skiing and have recently been thinking about some of the dopest setups I’ve ridden. This, in turn, got me thinking about the best terrain parks in all of California, and I was motivated to put this list together. While making the list, I considered the flow, creativity, and culture that each park offers.
#5 Palisades Tahoe, CA
Palisades Tahoe is the place for Tahoe park skiing in the spring. Routinely open into May, and sometimes June or July, slushy park laps through the Gold Coast terrain park are a must. Palisades has two main parks, Gold Coast and Belmont. Gold Coast Park is a more advanced park that usually runs with a medium-to-big three-pack of jumps, various rails, and some jibbing snow shapes. Belmont Park is a smaller park that offers small and medium jumps and a small rail garden.
#4 Boreal Mountain, CA
The home of Woodward Tahoe, Boreal Mountain, is well known for its park. Boreal Mountain has the only night skiing in Tahoe, and there’s no better spot to catch after-dark hot laps with the crew. Boreal’s Peace Park has creatively built features that open up riders’ imaginations. Boreal also has a halfpipe and a small, medium, and large jump line. In addition, the Woodward Progression Park is perfect for beginner park riders, featuring plenty of baby rails to learn on.
#3 Bear Mountain, CA
Located in Southern California, Bear Mountain is home to the best park in SoCal. Bear Mountain Express services Upper, Face, and Lower Park Run. This top-to-bottom park lap features rails, jumps, and the only halfpipes in SoCal. With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, Bear Mountain is an awesome spot to throw down under blue skies. Check out Bear’s web series, Sundays in the Park, for a glimpse at the Bear Mountain park life.
- Related: Top 5 Terrain Parks in North America
#2 Northstar, CA
Northstar’s Vista Express chair lift gives access to 1,165 vertical feet of seemingly endless park. The long lift means that you’ll hit rails, a jump line, and a halfpipe in one lap. In all, Northstar offers a beginner, intermediate, and advanced park. Northstar is the home mountain of many local park skiers and riders, and it has a community that supports and encourages progression. While other Tahoe resorts may be slow to get a park running during storm cycles, the Northstar Park crew digs out features for minimal downtime.
#1 Mammoth Mountain, CA
Surprised? If you have ever skied Mammoth, then probably not. The variety of parks at Mammoth makes it a truly special spot to ride. Off Unbound Express lies Main Park and Forest Trail. Main Park has XL features that entertain even the most advanced riders. Forest Trail offers intermediate jumps and features. Elsewhere on the mountain, Roller Coaster Express gives access to South Park, the Transition Park, Snake Run, and Jibs & More. Mammoth boasts “10 unique parks, two halfpipes, 100+ jibs and up to 40 jumps on any given day.”
In the late season, people travel to Mammoth from far and wide to bum it and ski the park daily. The Mammoth Unbound crew keeps as many features as possible until closing, including a proper jump for the last week of riding.
