Three great meadows turn into open ski country once a proper base of snow lands — free to use, no permit, and hard to believe you’re in the middle of one of the world’s biggest cities. Here’s where to go and when it’s actually allowed.
Minimum base snow
Open meadows
Acres on the Great Lawn
No fee to ski
There’s no fee, no permit and nothing to book. Bring your own skis to any of the big meadows and the park is yours — which on a bright morning after a storm is one of the strangest and best things you can do in Manhattan.
The catch is twofold, and both halves need sorting in advance. Skiing is only permitted once there is a base of at least six inches of snow, which in New York City means a handful of days a year and in some winters none at all. And there is no cross-country ski hire anywhere in the city — so the kit has to be bought, borrowed or already in a cupboard before the forecast turns. Nobody has ever successfully improvised this on the morning.
The skiing happens on the big open lawns. They’re not interchangeable — the terrain, the space and how many other people found the same idea are different at each.
Mid-park towards the West Side, running from 66th up to 69th Street. Open, gently rolling and the easiest place to find your rhythm. Two statues stand here for the historically curious — a 19th-century bust of the Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini, and a crouched Native American with his dog, titled Indian Hunter.
Where
Conditions
Fifty-five acres running from 79th Street to 85th, straight through the middle of the park and the best ground here for actually covering distance. This is where Simon and Garfunkel played their reunion concert — on a still morning after snow, “The Sounds of Silence” turns out to be a fairly literal description.
Where
Conditions
Mid-park around 97th Street. In summer this is the crack of a baseball bat all day long; under snow the diamonds disappear and the whole thing becomes glittering open pathways. Furthest from the crowds, and usually the last place to get tracked out.
Where
Conditions
Every meadow worth skiing, drawn to its size. Filled for open ground, hollow for the gentle rises.
Three different answers depending on how much you’ve skied and what you want from the morning. Pick the one that matches you.
Choose the closest match.
Mid-park towards the West Side, from 66th up to 69th Street. Open and gently rolling, easy to get a rhythm on, and close enough to the gates that bailing out costs you nothing. Look for the Mazzini bust and the Indian Hunter statue while you’re there. Find it on the full park map before you set off.
Fifty-five acres from 79th Street to 85th, straight through the middle of the park, and by a distance the best ground here for putting in real distance. Flat, wide and quiet early. This is where Simon and Garfunkel played their reunion concert, which on a silent morning after snow feels like a slightly on-the-nose joke.
Mid-park around 97th Street, where the summer ballfields vanish under snow and turn into open glittering pathways. It is the furthest from the gates and the last of the three to get tracked out, so if you want first marks in fresh snow this is the one — provided you’re willing to walk the extra thirty blocks to reach it.
Cross-country skiing is only allowed once at least six inches of base snow has settled. Below that the meadows stay closed to skis, both to protect the turf underneath and because there simply isn’t enough to glide on. It is the one rule that decides whether the day happens at all.
There is no cross-country ski hire anywhere in New York City. None. Whatever you’re skiing on has to be bought or borrowed ahead of the forecast, because the window between a storm landing and the snow going soft is measured in days rather than weeks.
City snow is on borrowed time from the moment it stops falling. The morning after a storm is the best skiing of the winter; by the afternoon the meadows are walked over, and a day later they are usually gone. Set the alarm rather than waiting for the weekend.
Some areas of the park are fenced or under restoration and stay off limits whatever the snow is doing. Stick to the open meadows, keep off planted beds and young trees, and don’t ski the bridle path — the turf under the snow is the reason there’s a depth rule in the first place.
The single biggest obstacle to skiing in Central Park is not the snow — it’s that you cannot rent the skis. Nowhere in New York City hires cross-country kit, so the planning happens weeks before the forecast rather than the night before.
Terrain, size and who each one suits. Worth deciding before you carry skis across town.
Six inches, or it isn’t on. Skiing is only permitted once a base of at least six inches has settled — not a dusting, a real storm. Check the depth before you commit to the journey, and remember there is nowhere in the city to hire skis if yours are still in a cupboard upstate.
Only when there is a base of at least six inches of snow. Below that the meadows are not open to skis. In practice that means a small number of days each winter, and in some winters it doesn’t happen at all — which is exactly why people go the moment it does.
On the large open meadows: Sheep Meadow between 66th and 69th, the Great Lawn between 79th and 85th, and North Meadow around 97th Street. Other big lawns work too. Keep off restoration areas, planted beds and the bridle path.
Nothing. There is no fee to use your own equipment in Central Park and no permit involved. The only cost is the skis themselves.
No — there are no cross-country ski rental facilities in New York City. This is the detail that catches everyone out. If you want to ski here, the kit has to be sorted well before the forecast turns.
Very. The mix of hilly and flat ground across the park suits beginners and experienced skiers alike, and Sheep Meadow in particular is open and forgiving enough to learn on. Nobody is watching and everybody there is pleased simply that it snowed.
Not often, and that is the point. A six-inch base is a real storm rather than a dusting, so expect a handful of opportunities in a good winter and none in a poor one. Watch the forecast, have the skis ready, and go the morning after.
More layers than the temperature suggests. The meadows are wide open with no shelter and no tree cover, and you will be warm while moving and cold the moment you stop. Waterproof gloves and something over your ears matter more here than a heavy coat.
Sledding at Pilgrim Hill is the classic, and the two rinks run all winter whether or not it snows. If the base is deep enough for skis it is a good day for all three — though the rinks are the only one that doesn’t depend on the weather.
Pilgrim Hill · free · bring your own sled
Wollman & Lasker · all winter, snow or not
The Ramble & North Woods · free
Tell us when you’re in town and we’ll tell you what the base is doing, which meadow is holding snow best, and what else is worth doing if it hasn’t settled.
