Minocqua Winter Park has opened for skiing in the first week of December two years in a row. The park itself posted that the Chalet and trails were open on December 6, 2024, and a trail report put the 2025-26 opening on December 3, 2025. Most of what shapes that December happens earlier, in the stretch from mid-October to early November. Passes are cheapest then. Volunteers trim the trails. Donations come in at the top of Squirrel Hill. For anyone who skis, snowshoes, or tubes at the park on Squirrel Hill Road, these weeks matter as much as the first snowfall.
The dates between now and the first groomed trail
Today is October 10, and the park's fall schedule is already underway:
- October 10–11 and 17–18, noon to 4 p.m. These are the last two weekends of the 2026 Fall Drive Up Days. The gate opens so cars can drive to the top of Squirrel Hill, weather permitting.
- November 1. The early-bird price on 2026/2027 season passes ends. The pass page lists day passes going on sale the same date.
- Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the fall's second volunteer trail work day. Crews trim trails and clear the skating pond.
- Early December, snow permitting. Openings have landed on December 6, 2024 and December 3, 2025. The park has not posted a date for this winter.
Each of these dates feeds the next one, and that link runs through the rest of this piece.
Squirrel Hill, by car, for a suggested $20
Most of the year, the overlook takes a 170-foot climb on foot. On Drive Up Days, the park opens the gate at 7543 Squirrel Hill Road so cars can go up to the north-facing view, timed for peak color. From the Squirrel Hill Overlook you can follow Yukon Creek down to where it joins the Squirrel River.
There are two other reasons to make the drive. The Tower House, the park's newer four-season pavilion, sits right at the overlook. The park pitches it for family gatherings, weddings, and group events, and as a stop during a day of snowshoeing, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, or disc golf. An information table at the top covers park history, upcoming events and projects, and volunteer openings. The suggested donation is $20 per car.
Donations are part of how the park pays its bills. Its August 2025 fundraising appeal set a $50,000 goal and listed what the money was for: equipment debt, insurance and chalet maintenance, and automating park entry with smart gates and kiosks.
What the early-bird price works out to
The park's 2025/2026 rate page listed season passes at $230 for adults, $200 for seniors, $80 for youth, and $460 for families. The 2026/2027 early-bird prices come in $30 lower for adults, $25 lower for seniors, and $60 lower for families, while the youth pass goes up $20. Here are the early-bird prices by check, or by card at the Chalet once it opens, next to the posted day rates:
| Pass | Day rate | Early-bird season pass | Visits to break even |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | $25 | $200 | 8 |
| Senior, 65 and over | $20 | $175 | 9 |
| Youth, 11 to 17 | $20 | $100 | 5 |
| Family | $60 | $400 | 7 |
| Child, 10 and under | Free | Not listed | – |
Buying online through the park's early-bird signup adds tax and a processing fee. That brings the adult pass to $217.83, senior to $190.70, youth to $109.27, and family to $434.95. At the online adult price, the break-even moves from eight day visits to nine. Paying by check skips the processing fee. Write "Season Pass" in the memo line and mail it to PO Box 313, Minocqua, WI 54548, or bring it to the Chalet.
The family pass covers adults with children 17 and under. Every season pass includes skiing, snowshoeing, and skijoring. Tubing sessions are sold separately, and so is membership in the Minocqua Winter Park Foundation. Membership for 2026/27 costs $50 by check or $54 online. It runs from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 and comes with a vote in the Foundation. The annual meeting is set for early 2027, date still to come.
The trails get cleared in November
Pass money buys the trails, but people with loppers get them ready. The park's volunteer signup lists two Saturday work days this fall, September 19 and November 7. Both run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and volunteers meet by the grooming shed to trim trails and clear the skating pond.
Registration is a $0 ticket on the volunteer signup page. Water and snacks are provided, with pizza at noon. Four hours of work earns a free ski, snowshoe, or tubing day pass. Using the table above, that pass covers one of the eight visits an adult needs to make the season pass pay off.
What's different at the trailheads this winter
Most of the work since last season has gone into the edges of the park, where people arrive and get ready. In a March 25, 2026 update, the park said the entrance to its eastern trails, including the Cookie Loop, had gone from "a plain gate at the back of the parking lot" to a real trailhead. There is now a gateway next to the Lakeland Nordic Ski Team's new building.
The same update listed three other projects:
- A new outdoor bathroom block just past the gateway. It will have two toilet rooms, each with a small changing bench and baseboard heat. It was still under construction in March, and the park has not posted that it is finished.
- Improved photocell lighting in the parking lot.
- Eight power pedestals along the edge of the lot for special events.
The pedestals are built for race days. The park's largest event, the Wolf Tracks Rendezvous, ran on Saturday, January 31, 2026. The park is already asking for 2027 sponsors but has not posted a 2027 race date.
The Flying Squirrel goes into its second winter
The tubing hill is the biggest change of the past two winters, and it pulls in a different crowd from the ski trails. The Flying Squirrel is 630 feet long with a 70-foot vertical drop, and a power lift carries riders back to the top. Its grand opening and ribbon cutting were on December 29, 2025. Foundation board president Chad Metzger said then that the hill reflected the park's effort to become "a true community park."
Riders must be at least 42 inches tall. Tickets for the large hill are booked online ahead of time, and check-in and waivers start at the Chalet front desk 30 minutes before each session. Tube rental is included. Personal tubes are not allowed, and only one person rides per tube. The tubing page still shows last winter's rates, labeled 2025/2026: $20 for adults, seniors, and youth, $10 for children 10 and under, and $75 for a family of two adults and up to three children under 18. Prices for this winter have not been posted yet. The smaller walk-up hill near the Chalet is listed as free, with donations welcome, and open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., conditions permitting.
The tubing hill opened under one board and runs this winter with a new staff lead as well. In January 2026, the Lakeland Times reported that Mike Trantow had been hired as the park's executive director. Metzger leads the 2026-27 board, with Ken Aldridge as vice president, Joe Handrick as secretary, and Greg Popovich as treasurer.
Dogs, payments, and the Tea House lot
A few rules have changed, and they matter to anyone who skis with a dog. Leashed dogs are welcome on all of the park's snowshoe trails, which run about 15 miles, ungroomed and separate from the ski trails. Walking and snowshoeing are allowed only on the designated snowshoe trails. Dogs are not allowed in the Chalet.
The previous skijor loop is no longer available for skiing with dogs, and the park says it is reviewing route options for skijoring at race speed. For now, the dog-friendly ski route is the Wilderness Trails. The park describes them as too narrow or hilly to skijor at speed and recommends them for a recreational outing with a dog, entered from the Tea House parking lot. Dogs must stay on those designated trails and be harnessed or leashed at all times, including in the parking lot.
The Chalet is heated and holds the ski shop and a heated wax room. It does not serve food and is cashless, taking checks, cards, and Apple Pay.
On opening day last season, most trails opened at once, with the wilderness trails groomed and the main trails tracked where the snow was deep enough. The pass deadline, the November 7 work day, and the Drive Up donations all come before that first groomed day.
For second-home owners, the weeks between the last leaves and the first snow are also when a lake house gets ready for winter. Furnace checks and driveway plowing need to be lined up so the cabin is warm and the driveway clear on the first ski weekend. If you'd like help planning that from a distance, Kelly Cooper can help with both the home and the calendar. Let's connect.
