Leland High Sierra Snowplay - sled without hassle

Winter, storms and snow came on fast in the past 10 days in the Sierra Nevada. If you want a taste of winter to go with your turkey, Leland High Sierra Snowplay on Highway 108 east of Sonora is opening Friday.

This is a mini-resort designed for families where you can get towed to the top of the hill, board a tube, sled or saucer, and then careen down to the bottom. The price includes all equipment.

A 12-acre hill has two lift tows to get you to the top. Groomed lanes are designed for different speeds. On the little kid's hill, double and triple riding is OK.

"We didn't think we'd open until December, but we've had 4 feet of snow," said Mike Wright at the park Tuesday. "Snowing like crazy again. Looks like another 18 inches."

The cost of an all-day package is $30 with unlimited use of tubes, sleds and saucers, and an unlimited number of tows to the top of the hill. A do-it-yourself pass where you walk to the top is available for $19. A lodge is available on site where you can get warm, eat, rest, and youngsters can play games.

Leland High Sierra Snowplay started as a test about 15 years ago - at first just a hill with some tubes and saucers for rent - and it has evolved into an attraction that draws families from across Northern California. The latest incarnation is the addition of mini-snowmobiles for youngsters 5 to 12, with a 110-pound weight limit.

The park's location east of Strawberry can be appealing for Bay Area families. It is about 150 miles from San Francisco. You can usually avoid the heavy, high-speed traffic you encounter when heading up Interstate 80 or Highway 50, and do not have to cross a high Sierra pass. Another bonus is that the Dodge Ridge Ski Area is only a few miles away.

If you want snow, but don't want to pay to play, there are two options.

One is to take your chances in national forests. Forest Service roads are buried by snow in the high country and one strategy is to park along the highway at a road head, and then walk on a snow-covered Forest Service road until you find a hill with a clearing to hike up and sail down. If you are new to the game, that can seem like Mission: Impossible because many areas are too thickly forested. The best in the north state is at Snowman's Hill on the summit of Highway 89 at the turnoff for the Mount Shasta Ski Park.

Another option is to head to a state park-operated Sno-Park. There are 19 Sno-Parks, most along major highways. Two of the best slopes at Sno-Parks are off I-80 at Yuba Gap and off Highway 50 at Echo Summit. The best cross-country skiing is at Meiss Meadow on Highway 88.

The cost is $5 per day per vehicle, but you have to buy the permit in advance. They are not usually available at the parking lot and only occasionally, like at Donner Summit and Yuba Gap, can they be purchased at nearby stores.

Another problem with Sno-Parks is that if the parking area is not plowed, you're out of luck after a long drive. Private concessionaires run most of them, so there is a personal financial interest to get the parking areas cleared. Parking is first-come, first-served, and some well-known parks fill up on weekends.

And that gets us back to Leland High Sierra Snowplay. It's a sure thing.

Tom Stienstra's Outdoor Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 and 106.9) at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. E-mail him at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle