Hidden Valley Ski Resort Near St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri is a long way from the mountains, so the options for snow skiing are very limited. Hidden Valley in Wildwood, less than 45-minutes away, is the only ski resort in the St. Louis area and offers a fun day of skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing during the winter months.

Hidden Valley, the largest ski resort in Missouri, has 17 runs on about 65 acres of skiable terrain with a 310-foot vertical drop. 30 percent of the runs are listed as beginner, 60 percent as intermediate and the remaining 10 percent as advanced. There is also an off-run terrain park for expert skiers and snowboarders. 9 lifts including 5 chair lifts, 1 rope tow, and 3 surface carpet lifts serve skiers.

To keep things white in winter, the resort gets a little help from Mother Nature, but almost all of the snow is made with snow machines.

Hidden Valley offers a Snow Sports Academy with lessons for all ages and abilities, a Polar Plunge tubing area, equipment rental, and a ski lodge featuring a bar, shop, and cafeteria. There are day lockers and vending machines available, too.

Hidden Valley Ski Resort is located at 17409 Hidden Valley Drive in Wildwood in St. Louis County. From St. Louis City, take I-44 West to the Eureka exit (#264). Then, exit onto Highway 109 and go north about two miles to Alt Road. Turn left on Alt Road and follow the signs to Hidden Valley Drive and the resort.

Hidden Valley is open daily from mid-December to the end of February. Regular hours are Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with longer hours on Fridays (1 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Saturdays (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). On Sundays, the hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Watch for their Midnight Madness events with 1:00 a.m. lift closings which typically begin after Christmas Day and end in late February. Hidden Valley also offers special evening and overnight skiing on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

Daytime lift tickets and equipment rentals vary from day to day and the prices go up during especially popular times of the year. Most Sundays starting in January, Hidden Valley offers a Family Night Special from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. There are also group discounts of 15 percent to 25 percent every day for parties of 15 or more. For more details on group rates, see the Hidden Valley website. Season passes vary according to the dates chosen and are available on the website for the 2019-2020 season now.

In addition to skiing and snowboarding, Hidden Valley also has a snow tubing area called The Polar Plunge. Visitors can ride an inner tube down a 1200-foot hill, then take a conveyor carpet back to the top and do it all over again. The Polar Plunge is open to guests of all ages. Tickets are $26 a person for three hours of tubing which includes the tube.

As you would expect, many of the activities offered at Hidden Valley are impacted by the weather, so to get the latest information on snow conditions and which runs are open, call (636) 938-6999.

For more things to do in the winter in St. Louis, check out the best free winter events in St. Louis and favorite winter activities in the St. Louis area.