Best sledding hills in New Jersey after the first snow

Well… it snowed! ❄️
We’d been waiting for it for days, and we actually got a little more than we thought. But no complaints here—because it gave us a good, old-fashioned snow day on a Sunday.

New Jersey’s first real snow day of the season

So enjoy the aftermath of our first widespread snow of the season while you can. With totals ranging from a teasing few inches to a legit 8 inches across the state, Garden Staters spent the day building snowmen and snow forts, throwing snowballs, and—of course—sledding.

Suddenly, snow discs, toboggans, and Flexible Flyers were pulled out from under piles of garage and shed “stuff” and off forgotten basement shelves. And just like that, kids and families everywhere became deeply invested in finding the perfect hill—long, fast, and thrilling enough to make the exhausting walk back up totally worth it.

Growing up sledding in flat South Jersey

Growing up in Mays Landing, though, sledding always felt a little… unfair. Flat is flat, and Atlantic County did not exactly bless us with dramatic elevation.

When we were really young, our parents would literally pull us down our street—which, bless them, was definitely more memorable than exciting.

As we got older, we got creative. We hunted down the smallest hills and random embankments, sprinted as fast as we could, and launched ourselves into dramatic bellyflops onto our sleds. Short rides. Lots of effort. Zero epic downhill runs.

Meanwhile, it always seemed like the real sledding—the long, fast, scream-your-head-off kind—was reserved for kids in Western, Central, and especially North Jersey. Those kids had hills. We had… optimism.

The great New Jersey sledding divide: hills vs. hope

So if you’re ready to take advantage of this snow before it melts (because, well… Jersey), here are some of the best sledding spots in the state, sorted by region.

Best sledding hills in New Jersey by region

❄️ North Jersey

• Floods Hill (Meadowland Park) — South Orange

• Atkins Glen Park — Park Ridge

• Echo Lake Park (Summer Arts Hill) — Mountainside / Westfield

• Leonard Gordon Park (Mosquito Park) — Jersey City

• Goffle Brook Park — Hawthorne

• Lewis Morris County Park (Doe Meadow) — Morris Township

• Tourne County Park — Denville

• Van Saun County Park — Paramus

• Round Valley Recreation Area — Lebanon

• Fort Lee Sledding Park — Fort Lee

• Weehawken Park Sledding Hill — Weehawken

• Branch Brook Park — Newark

• Bunny Hill — Kearny

❄️ Central Jersey

• Buccleuch Park — New Brunswick

• Holmdel Park — Holmdel

• Cheesequake State Park — Matawan

• Thompson Park — Monroe Township

❄️ South Jersey

• Chestnut Branch Park — Mantua

• Fort Mott State Park — Pennsville

Whether you’re chasing nostalgia or introducing a new generation to frozen fingers and red cheeks, get out there now. And let’s all cross our gloved—or mittened—fingers for more snow days. The kind where Jersey kids are actually off from school, sledding all morning, Mom’s making warm lunches with hot chocolate, everyone warming up inside… and then heading back out before the early winter sunset.

…And not logging into online classes from the couch.

Now that is the dream. ☃️