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Snowiest US cities ranked by free sledding hills

We matched 668 sourced sledding hills in 98 metros with NOAA snowfall normals. Here is where snow and free hills line up.

What stands out

  • Minneapolis / St Paul has the most hills its sources call free: 17 of 30 listed. Its Minneapolis-St Paul Intl. Airport station averages 51.2 inches of snow a year.
  • The snowiest metro in the list, Syracuse (127.8 inches a year), has no hill its sources state is free.
  • The 10 snowiest metros together have 2 hills stated free, out of 60 across all 98 metros.
  • For 596 of 668 hills (89%), the source does not say whether sledding costs anything. Those are not counted as free here.
  • 82 metros have no hill where the source states it is free.

The ranking

98 metros ranked by hills their sources state are free, ties broken by yearly snowfall
RankMetroFree hillsAll hillsListed by park or citySnow per year (in.)Snow rankSnowiest monthFirst 1-inch monthNOAA station
1Minneapolis / St Paul, MN17303051.239DecNovUSW00014922
2Chicago, IL915938.459JanNovUSW00094846
3Columbus, OH88828.278JanNovUSW00014821
4Fargo, ND5131351.438DecOctUSW00014914
5Worcester, MA47272.914FebOctUSW00094746
6Salt Lake City, UT37051.932JanNovUSW00024127
7Idaho Falls, ID33324.885DecNovUSW00094143
8Burlington, VT26387.58JanNovUSW00014742
9St. Cloud, MN24447.947DecOctUSW00014926
10Morgantown, WV11168.916JanNovUSW00013729
11Youngstown, OH11167.818JanNovUSW00014852
12Hartford, CT111051.736FebNovUSW00014740
13Fort Collins, CO15051.437MarOctUSC00053005
14Denver, CO110049.043MarOctUSW00023062
15Cincinnati, OH112423.387JanDecUSW00093814
16Boise, ID110017.693DecNovUSW00024131
17Syracuse, NY053127.81JanNovUSW00014771
18Utica, NY011127.82JanNovUSW00014771
19Erie, PA0100104.33JanNovUSW00014860
20Rochester, NY055102.04JanNovUSW00014768
21Marquette, MI010102.05JanNovUSW00014838
22Buffalo, NY07695.46JanNovUSW00014733
23Duluth, MN08190.27DecOctUSW00014913
24Binghamton, NY05086.59JanOctUSW00004725
25Anchorage, AK07077.910DecOctUSW00026451
26Grand Rapids, MI09177.611JanNovUSW00094860
27Kalamazoo, MI04077.612JanNovUSW00094860
28Bangor, ME02074.613JanNovUSW00014606
29Casper, WY02071.815DecOctUSW00024089
30Portland, ME05368.717JanNovUSW00014764
31Manchester, NH01167.719JanNovUSW00014745
32Great Falls, MT01066.120FebOctUSW00024143
33Traverse City, MI04265.921JanNovUSW00094814
34South Bend, IN02264.522JanNovUSW00014848
35Cleveland, OH0131363.823JanNovUSW00014820
36Laramie, WY01162.924AprOctUSW00024018
37Albany, NY05059.225JanNovUSW00014735
38Billings, MT05057.426JanOctUSW00024033
39Green Bay, WI09455.627JanNovUSW00014898
40Appleton, WI08355.628JanNovUSW00014898
41Eau Claire, WI06055.429JanNovUSW00014991
42Rochester, MN05253.130DecNovUSW00014925
43Flint, MI03352.131JanNovUSW00014826
44Ogden / Provo, UT013551.933JanNovUSW00024127
45Logan, UT03051.934JanNovUSW00024127
46Madison, WI09951.835JanNovUSW00014837
47Bismarck, ND02250.540DecOctUSW00024011
48Lansing, MI06450.241JanNovUSW00014836
49Boston, MA011249.242FebDecUSW00014739
50Boulder, CO04349.044MarOctUSW00023062
51Milwaukee, WI0151248.745JanNovUSW00014839
52Rapid City, SD03048.546AprOctUSW00024090
53Akron, OH07747.248JanNovUSW00014895
54Canton, OH01147.249JanNovUSW00014895
55La Crosse, WI05146.350JanNovUSW00014920
56Spokane, WA06145.451DecNovUSW00024157
57Sioux Falls, SD09945.352DecOctUSW00014944
58Detroit, MI08845.053JanNovUSW00094847
59Ann Arbor, MI010445.054JanNovUSW00094847
60Pittsburgh, PA07144.155JanNovUSW00094823
61Missoula, MT05043.056DecNovUSW00024153
62Dubuque, IA0111142.557JanNovUSW00094908
63Cedar Rapids, IA03339.158JanNovUSW00094910
64Toledo, OH011537.460JanNovUSW00094830
65Bozeman, MT04037.261DecOctUSW00024144
66Helena, MT01037.262DecOctUSW00024144
67Rockford, IL06137.163JanNovUSW00094822
68Providence, RI06036.664FebNovUSW00014765
69Springfield, MA, MA01036.665FebNovUSW00014765
70Des Moines, IA09636.566FebNovUSW00014933
71Ames, IA01036.567FebNovUSW00014933
72State College, PA02035.868JanNovUSW00014778
73Fort Wayne, IN08133.669JanNovUSW00014827
74New Haven, CT05033.670FebDecUSW00094702
75Scranton, PA01033.171FebDecUSW00014737
76Allentown, PA08033.172FebDecUSW00014737
77Colorado Springs, CO06132.573MarOctUSW00093037
78North Jersey, NJ013131.574FebDecUSW00014734
79Harrisburg, PA02029.975FebDecUSW00014711
80New York City, NY0282829.876FebDecUSW00094728
81Westchester County, NY06629.877FebDecUSW00094728
82Omaha, NE08027.179FebNovUSW00014942
83Peoria, IL01126.280JanNovUSW00014842
84Lincoln, NE05126.081FebNovUSW00014939
85Long Island, NY010225.982FebDecUSW00094789
86Indianapolis, IN013725.583JanDecUSW00093819
87Dayton, OH08325.084JanDecUSW00093815
88Iowa City, IA05023.686JanNovUSW00014950
89Philadelphia, PA0111123.188FebDecUSW00013739
90Champaign-Urbana, IL07421.889JanNovUSW00093822
91Reno, NV03220.990DecNovUSW00023185
92Baltimore, MD07019.391FebDecUSW00093721
93Kansas City, MO013018.292FebNovUSW00003947
94St. Louis, MO06016.694JanDecUSW00013994
95Lexington, KY07014.595JanDecUSW00093820
96Washington, DC area, MD0191113.796FebDecUSW00013743
97Louisville, KY05513.497JanDecUSW00093821
98Wichita, KS07012.798FebDecUSW00003928

How we counted

  • Free hills: hills in our list where the linked source states there is no fee. A hill with no cost stated is not counted. Every hill page links its source and the date we checked it (2026-10-28).
  • Snowfall: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991 to 2020, monthly snowfall normal (MLY-SNOW-NORMAL) at a NOAA station near each metro that reports snow (distance on each metro's season page). Station IDs link to NOAA in the table. Checked 2026-10-28.
  • First 1-inch month: the first month from fall on that averages at least an inch of snow.
  • Limits: this counts hills we found and sourced, not every hill in a metro. Bigger cities with more park pages online can look higher. Metros are not adjusted for population.

Download the data

Download the CSV (98 rows). You can reuse it with a link back to this page.

Updated