Badger Pass Ski Area

Badger Pass Ski Area is Yosemite's seasonal, lift-served winter sports hub on Glacier Point Road. Downhill skiing and snowboarding are the headline, with cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snow tubing too. It has been a family ski destination since 1935. Come for an organized day on snow, with lessons and rentals available when it operates. Snow tubing is offered, but sledding and general snow play are prohibited, so this is not a casual sledding hill.

Parking, the lodge, restrooms, cafeteria-style food, a gear shop, and alpine and Nordic rentals cluster at the base. The lodge's first floor is wheelchair accessible; the second floor is not. A free winter shuttle has connected Badger Pass with multiple stops in Yosemite Valley, but service days vary and seats are limited. Check the current schedule and arrive early if you plan to use it.

Badger Pass relies on natural snow. Its usual operating season runs from mid-December into late March, but dates move with snow conditions, so check current operations before driving out on Glacier Point Road. A dry winter can mean a shorter season.

Badger Pass opened in 1935 and is one of California's earliest developed downhill ski areas. Donald Tresidder, the first president of Yosemite Park and Curry Company, also bid to bring the 1932 Winter Olympics to Yosemite; Lake Placid was chosen instead. That bid came just a few years before the ski area opened.

The original ski lodge is an example of NPS Rustic architecture with Swiss chalet influences. It was expanded and altered over the decades, so the building is both a working base for snow sports and a piece of the park's early winter-recreation history.