Quick Glimpse
- Lee Canyon is a ski and snowboard resort and canyon area located in the Spring Mountains, near Mt. Charleston.
- It is less than 1 hour from Las Vegas with a base elevation of ~8,500ft. Given the elevation, it offers a winter wonderland during ski season and much cooler temperatures in the summer.
- Currently Lee Canyon has 31 winter trails accessed from 4 chairlifts. In the summer the resort offers hiking, mountain biking, music weekends, scenic chairlift rides, and other outdoor activities.
Lee Canyon is one of our favorite family-friendly day trip destinations. Since it is less than one hour away, we take advantage of the skiing in the wintertime and heat reprieve in the summer!
Our Winter Experience at Lee Canyon with Kids
With 31 ski/snowboard trails, Lee Canyon is the perfect size for a family-friendly day trip. It is a smaller resort, which makes it a great mountain for the kids to learn to ski and practice.
Getting There
We usually take SR 156 into Lee Canyon, which I like, because it’s a slower gain on altitude without too many winding turns. The last 1-2 miles of the drive becomes steeper, and it may require chains or 4WD if there has been a recent storm. There can be traffic on the way up the mountain, especially if it’s a sold-out day. It’s best to get there early to avoid crowds, but it can also be hit or miss.
If it is a sold-out day, have your lift ticket pulled up on your phone before driving. The coverage can be spotty and there is sometimes a checkpoint approaching the mountain to confirm a ticket purchase. There can be a car line as well.
Details
Lift tickets are reasonable in advance (for adults; kids 12 and under ski for free through power kids, see here). The prices are set based on demand, so the closer you get the more they can go up in price. Kids ski lessons are also reasonable. There have been several trips where we’ve put either one child or both children in lessons. It’s a great experience for them and for me personally it helps break up the day, so I can practice skiing too.
We’ve rented kids skis in Las Vegas for the season before and have also done the rent-as-you-go method at Lee Canyon. If you rent skis at Lee Canyon I would book the appointment as early as you can to avoid crowds.
Conditions
Lee Canyon gets 129-161 inches of snowfall annually. More than you would think being so close to Las Vegas! There can be some stretches where they haven’t had any snowfall, but they do have snow making capacity. We have had experiences in both fresh powder and man-made snow.
We usually check in advance for how much of the mountain is open, which you can do here. For our kids, who are practicing and still learning to ski, we don’t need the whole mountain to be open to have a successful day–which is a perk in the shoulder portions of the season!
Lunch and After Skiing Options
There is an après vibe where you can have lunch, coffee, or happy hour. There are 2 dinning spaces (Bighorn Grill and Bristlecone Bar) along with a cafe (Brewin Burro) with some smaller food options. With your lift ticket, you usually receive $10 in Burro Bucks that you can use towards food. Be sure to get that from your email in the morning and save it or screenshot it. The coverage on the mountain is spotty and it’s best to have it up ahead of time.
Sometimes there is a DJ with music at the Bristlecone Bar. The overall atmosphere is fun. Usually, we are wiped out when we leave so everyone sleeps well! I recommend checking out Lee Canyon for skiing.
Our Experience at Lee Canyon in the Summer with Kids
In the summer months it can be 30 degrees cooler at Lee Canyon than in Las Vegas. We take advantage of the temperature reprieve and venture up for hiking, outdoor activities, and their music on the mountain weekends.
In Lee Canyon we’ve explored the Lower Bristlecone Trail, which is close to the entrance of the ski resort. We did an out and back hike on the trail and packed a lunch in the car. You could easily do this hike and then pop over to the ski resort for lunch, a snack, or a brew/coffee for a half day activity.
Don’t forget that the altitude is higher, so pack plenty of water and be prepared to take breaks with the kids while hiking. There was not a bathroom at Lower Bristlecone Trail. We stopped at the next-door resort to use the facilities.
On another weekend we went up for one of their music on the mountain series days. You aren’t allowed to take in a cooler, but we packed chairs, a blanket, and waters. There is food and beer for purchase. You could also buy tickets for their beer garden, which we did not, but I did notice that there was corn hole and more shade in that area versus the general area. In the general area you could pay to do axe throwing, but unfortunately, I felt like our kids were slightly too young for this. The music was great, but if we go again, I will pack a few other activities for the kids.
Tips if you attend on a music day would be to bring chairs, a blanket, a hat, sunscreen, waters, and a shade structure if you have it. I saw others that wheeled their stuff in their sports wagon, like this one, and I was wishing we brought ours. It was windy on the day we went, and I had packed playing cards for the kids, which I learned was a bad idea. Next time I will bring something like more sustainable in the wind like ring toss, binoculars, bubbles, or something you can do right in your area without impeding on your neighbor’s space too badly.
The scenic chairlift and more hiking is still on our list. They have other ad hoc activities like yoga on the mountain and disc golf. Check their website and social media for current activities.
Lee Canyon would easily be pair with exploring Kyle Canyon for a full daytrip as they are only about 20 mins apart. There is the Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway to check out and many hiking trails. Fletcher Canyon trial is easy to access to round out a full day.
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