A Durango snow day has a short list of options, and the best-known one has no rental desk, no restrooms and no guarantee. Buckley Park, a block of lawn on Main Avenue, becomes the town's sledding hill whenever a storm leaves enough snow. For something more reliable, Purgatory Resort rents tubes by the hour. The little ski hill at Chapman Hill plays by its own rules. Here is where each option stands in the fall of 2026.
Where do Durango residents go sledding?
Buckley Park is the hill people name first. The park sits at 1250 Main Avenue in downtown Durango. The City of Durango describes a 1.6-acre green space with lawns, trees, benches and lighting, and notes that it has no restrooms or picnic tables (City of Durango). The city's page does not mention sledding. The Durango Herald does. In February 2026 its photographers caught kids at the park after a storm "dumped just enough snow to make sledding possible at the popular in-town hill" (Durango Herald).
Two cautions apply before you plan a snow day around it:
- Snow has to cooperate. The hill only works as a sledding hill after a storm, so watch the forecast. Our answers on how much snow Durango gets and when the first snow falls give the local numbers
- The park may change. The city bought it from the school district, and a master-plan process is underway. As of an August 24, 2026 update, the public comment period had closed and the project team was building draft design concepts (Engage Durango)
Can you sled at Chapman Hill?
Not as a free-for-all. Chapman Hill is the city's in-town ski and snowboard hill, with its own pass prices and hours. The city's current ski page covers passes, hours, lessons and uphill travel, and it says nothing about sledding (City of Durango). When the hill offered tubing in March 2018, the Durango Herald reported that only tubes rented from Chapman Hill were allowed, rentals cost $15 at the pavilion, and sledding and tubing were prohibited when the hill was closed (Durango Herald). That report is more than eight years old. Call Chapman Hill at 970-375-7395 before you haul a sled over, and expect the answer to depend on the season.
Where can you go snow tubing near Durango?
The tubing hill at Purgatory Resort is the one with groomed lanes. Here is what the resort's tubing page posts:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Snow Coaster Tubing Hill |
| Cost | $15 per person, per tube, per hour |
| Hours (2026 weekend operations) | 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., under the lights |
| Ages | 3 and up; children 3 to 5 must be at least 36 inches and ride with a guardian |
| Riding alone | 6 years old and 42 inches, able to drag feet to control speed |
| Tubes | Rent from the resort; no personal sleds or tubes |
| Lift | None; you walk your tube up |
| Waiver | A parent or legal guardian signs for anyone under 18 |
Those figures come from the resort's tubing page. The page shows the 2025/2026 season as closed and does not yet post 2026/2027 dates. The resort's winter opening day is scheduled for November 20, 2026, so the tubing hill will not open before then. Check the page in late November.
What about Hesperus Ski Area?
Hesperus, about 11 miles west of Durango on Highway 160, used to run a Marmot Hill tubing area. Its operator said in 2024 that Hesperus would not operate for the 2024/2025 season, including downhill, uphill and tubing (Hesperus Ski Area). We found no announcement that it will reopen for 2026/2027, so check ski-hesperus.com first. If you are thinking about sledding as part of a bigger winter plan, our winter guide lays out the season month by month.