Snow Tubing Near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg: Every Real Option, Compared

There are three real snow tubing options near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and each works differently. Pigeon Forge Snow is an indoor park that makes real snow year-round, open even in July. Ober Gatlinburg runs an outdoor hill at its mountaintop ski area above downtown each winter, roughly mid-November through March. Slippery Slope at Rowdy Bear's Funpark in Pigeon Forge is an outdoor real-snow hill that also runs seasonally. Tubing tickets are sold by timed session (Pigeon Forge Snow also sells an All Day Snow Day Pass), and popular sessions fill up on weekends once the Thanksgiving-to-New Year's stretch hits.

Quick answer

• Pigeon Forge Snow (2533 Teaster Lane, Pigeon Forge) — indoor, real snow, open 365 days a year, walk-ins welcome. One-hour tubing session is $29.99; a 30-minute Snow Play session (no height minimum) is $9.99.
• Ober Gatlinburg — outdoor hill at the mountaintop ski area above downtown Gatlinburg, reached by Aerial Tramway or by driving up Ski Mountain Road. Open seasonally, roughly mid-November through March, with 90-minute sessions. Last season (2025-26) tickets were about $48 on non-holiday weekdays and $53 on weekends and holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas-New Year's, MLK and Presidents' Day weekends); Ober hasn't posted 2026-27 pricing yet.
• Slippery Slope at Rowdy Bear's Funpark (2155 Parkway, Pigeon Forge) — outdoor, real snow, over 500 feet long with a 70-foot drop. Reservations are required and sessions often sell out; it was closed for its 2026 off-season and listed as returning fall 2026 as of this writing.
• Booking ahead matters most at Slippery Slope (reservations required) and least at Pigeon Forge Snow (walk-ins welcome); see Group logistics below.

Pigeon Forge Snow: the indoor option that never closes

Pigeon Forge Snow bills itself as America's first indoor snow park, making real snow fresh daily from pure water with no chemicals and keeping the room at 65-70 degrees year-round. Being climate-controlled, it is the only one of the three unaffected by a warm winter or an off-season closure, making it the simplest option for planning a trip around a specific date.

• Hours: Sunday through Thursday 10am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 9pm. Ticket sales end 45 minutes before closing.
• Snow Tubing (one hour): $29.99. Snow Play (30 minutes, no height minimum): $9.99. The All Day Snow Day Pass, which covers both tubing and Snow Play, is $36.99.
• Tubing requires a minimum height of 38 inches, a minimum age of 3, and a maximum weight of 375 pounds.
• Walk-ups are welcome and tubing does not require a reservation, but buying online ahead is recommended for weekends and holidays. Parents can watch for free from the Overlook Lounge.

Ober Gatlinburg's outdoor tubing hill

Ober Gatlinburg's tubing hill sits at the top of its mountaintop ski area; reach it by riding the Aerial Tramway from 1001 Parkway or by driving Ski Mountain Road to paid parking at the summit. The hill is a 350-foot track with a 50-foot drop served by a Magic Carpet conveyor so riders do not have to walk back up. The resort rebranded as Ober Mountain after a 2022 ownership change and is branded Ober Gatlinburg again on its official site today, so you may still see the older name on some guides. For the tram, skiing, and the rest of the mountain, see our Ober Gatlinburg visit guide.

• Season: tubing typically opens mid-to-late November and runs through March, weather and snowmaking permitting. Ober's tubing page is currently showing Closed for the Season with no 2026-2027 dates posted, so confirm on its site before you book travel around it.
• Sessions run about 90 minutes each, offered as Early Bird, Day, and Cosmic (evening) tubing depending on the date.
• Every tuber must be at least 42 inches tall; there is no exception for shorter children. Riders ages 3 to 5 who meet that height must ride with a ticketed adult (18 or older); riders age 6 may ride alone, and riders 7 and up must ride alone, per Ober's official ride restrictions.
• Last season (2025-26) tickets were about $48 on non-holiday weekdays and $53 on weekends and holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas-New Year's, MLK and Presidents' Day weekends); ages 3-4 rode for a $3 RFID card fee with a paying adult. Ober hasn't posted 2026-27 pricing yet.
• Popular session times fill first, especially weekends and holiday weeks, so buy ahead and budget extra time for tram lines before a timed session.

Slippery Slope at Rowdy Bear's Funpark

Rowdy Bear's Funpark in Pigeon Forge runs its own real-snow hill, Slippery Slope, billed as Tennessee's longest and fastest tubing hill at over 500 feet with a 70-foot drop. Like Ober's, it makes its own snow and runs seasonally rather than indoors.

• Address: 2155 Parkway, Pigeon Forge. Rowdy Bear doesn't publish snow-tubing prices or hours until the season opens; check its ticket page.
• Riders between 40 and 47 inches tall must ride with a connected adult tube; solo riders need to be at least 47 inches. Maximum weight is 325 pounds. Every tuber pays the same price regardless of age, and groups of 20 or more can arrange a discount through the park's group sales team.
• Sessions run 90 minutes. Reservations are required and often sell out, so buy as soon as the 2026 season opens rather than counting on walk-up availability; expect a wristband and signed waiver.
• Tubing runs in rain or sleet rather than closing for light weather. Reserved tickets aren't refundable unless the park cancels a session for extreme weather, which is rare; otherwise Rowdy Bear gives rain checks, which don't expire. As of this writing the hill was closed for its off-season and listed as returning fall 2026 (its homepage mentions Nov. 7; confirm before booking).

Height and age rules at a glance

• Pigeon Forge Snow (indoor): 38 inches minimum, age 3 minimum, 375-pound maximum. No separate solo-rider height tier.
• Ober Gatlinburg (outdoor): 42 inches minimum for every rider, no exceptions. Ages 3-5 ride with a ticketed adult; age 6 may ride alone; ages 7 and up must ride alone.
• Slippery Slope (outdoor): 40 inches to ride with a connected adult, 47 inches to ride solo; 325-pound maximum.

Kids under 38 inches can't tube anywhere; 38-39 inches clears only Pigeon Forge Snow; 40-41 inches adds Slippery Slope with an adult in a connected tube; Ober needs 42. Pigeon Forge Snow's Snow Play area has no height requirement, which is the easiest way to keep everyone occupied at the same stop.

Group logistics: tickets, sessions, and booking ahead

Tubing tickets are time-boxed (an hour at Pigeon Forge Snow unless you buy its All Day Snow Day Pass; 90 minutes at Ober and Slippery Slope), and every rider needs their own ticket. A few things make booking for a bigger group smoother:

1. Buy online before you arrive. Slippery Slope requires a reservation and sessions are often fully booked; Ober's popular times fill first on weekends and holidays; Pigeon Forge Snow takes walk-ins but still recommends booking ahead.
2. Book everyone for the same session time, since staggered arrivals mean part of the group waits.
3. Plan around height, not just age. A family with a mix of toddlers, grade-schoolers, and adults will likely need to split between a tubing session and a non-tubing activity, such as Pigeon Forge Snow's Snow Play, rather than assume everyone rides together. Nobody under 42 inches can tube at Ober at all.
4. If the forecast is uncertain, Pigeon Forge Snow is the fallback since it is indoors and unaffected by a warm spell; the other two already run through ordinary rain or sleet.

Best time to plan a snow tubing trip

Search interest in snow tubing near Pigeon Forge peaks from November through January, which lines up with when Ober and Slippery Slope are actually open. For natural snowfall odds month to month (a separate question from these three commercial tubing hills), see our Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg weather by month guide and snow in Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. For more cold-weather things to do on the same trip, our winter in Pigeon Forge guide rounds out the rest of the season.

Where to stay for a group tubing trip: Tula & Oak House is a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house in Sevierville that sleeps 14 across four king suites, a queen room, and a bunk room with six bunks, about 18 minutes from the Pigeon Forge Parkway and about 22 minutes from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After a cold morning on the tubing hill, the house's private indoor heated pool, hot tub, and theater room give a big group somewhere to warm up without everyone piling into one hotel room, and the arcade and playroom keep kids busy once the group splits by height requirement for tubing. Check your dates and book direct.