Luisa Wolcott-Breen, front, and Amanda Newcombe ride their toboggan across Hosmer Pond after exiting the toboggan chute at the Snow Bowl in Camden. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Finally we’re having something close to a real Maine winter.

So many of the fun things to do during a long winter require significant amounts of snow. Whether you’re a kid who wants to go sledding and tobogganing down the neighborhood hill, or love exploring farmland and wooded trails on snowshoes or cross-country skis, you need snow to do it.

After a couple of woeful winter snowfalls, Southern Maine right now has a nice, comfy white blanket over it. So it’s a great time to get out and discover all the wonderful winter activities Maine offers. Here then are some ideas.

OH, CHUTE

The Jack Williams Toboggan Chute at the Camden Snow Bowl in Camden is a one-of-a kind attraction. First built in 1936, it’s a 70-foot-high and 400-foot-long wooden chute that sends tobogganers speeding through the trees at up to 40 miles an hour and onto frozen Hosmer Pond. The chute is open most Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and school vacations. It costs $10 an hour per person, toboggan included. It’s a good place to spend a day, since Camden Snow Bowl also has downhill skiing and other wintry things to do.

Two people speed down the toboggan chute at the Snow Bowl in Camden in January. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

ALL DOWNHILL

Maine’s western mountains are known for some top-notch ski areas that attract people from all over New England, including Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry. But there are downhill, or alpine, ski areas all over the state, so you can find one close to home. Some of the ones closer to Southern Maine include Lost Valley in Auburn and Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton. To find info on ski areas all over the state, go to skimaine.com. 

SLIPPERY SLOPES

You don’t have to go far afield in Southern Maine to find sledding hills, no matter where you live. In Portland, there’s a steep and slightly scary hill stretching from the Eastern Promenade through a public park down toward Casco Bay. The view is terrific. There’s also a wide and family-friendly hill in Payson Park, between Ocean Avenue and Baxter Boulevard, with free parking. You can find info on these and other sledding hills in Portland at portlandmaine.gov. 

Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth has several hills that run down to open fields, all with great views of the ocean. Plus there’s parking and you can visit Portland Head Light at time when it’s not crowded with visitors.

Payson Park’s hill is fun coming down, a little tough on parents going up. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

TOTALLY TUBULAR 

Seacoast Adventure on Route 302 in Windham has a snow tubing park that’s open weekends, holidays and school vacation weeks, as well as select Thursday evenings. You can slide under the lights, too, since most days they have sessions that last into the evening hours. Though sliding down the 700-foot-long run is exciting, half the fun is riding the “carpet lift” conveyor belt which carries you up the hill. This way you save your energy for yelling as you slide. Tickets for a two-hour sliding session are $35, or $50 for an adult and child combo.

Black Mountain ski area in Rumford has two 500-foot-long chutes in its Edge Tubing Park. You can ride a lift up to the top of the hill and then slide down. Tickets are $20, tube included, and there’s no time limit. So it’s a nice thing to do while others in your party are skiing, if skiing is not your bag. The park is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons, some Wednesdays and school vacation weeks.

SKATE AWAY 

Though we love snow, it sometimes covers up the little ponds where we like to ice skate. No worries, because there are plenty of maintained or even covered ice rinks to skate at this winter. The Thompson’s Point Rink, for instance, is covered by an antique train shed roof. It’s right on the Fore River so you have great water views while you skate. Tickets for skating are $12. Check the schedule on the rink’s website for daily hours.

The Waterhouse Center in Kennebunk is a free, covered skating pavilion in this charming town’s center. It’s open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Bring your own skates. For more places to skate around Maine, indoors and out, check out our skating rink list at pressherald.com.

The Thompson’s Point rink in Portland is covered by an antique train shed roof. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

IF THE SNOWSHOE FITS

The thing about snowshoes is not everyone has some. So before you buy a pair, you might want to try some out. You can do that at the  Winter Fun Days being held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Camden Hills State Park in Camden and at Reid State Park in Georgetown. At both parks the Maine State Parks Ski & Snowshoe trailer will be loaning ski and snowshoe equipment for use that day, for free. There is a $1.50 admission fee for those 12 and over, but those under 12 and over 65 are admitted free.

A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY

Cross-country skiing is one of the activities that really takes a hit when we don’t get much snow. So this year, rediscover all the great places to do that in Southern Maine, both in the cities and out in the country. In Portland, there are groomed trails at the Riverside Golf Course, and ungroomed terrain for skiing at Evergreen Cemetery Woods, Baxter Woods, Canco Woods and several other spots. See more Portland cross-country locales on portlandmaine.gov. 

Some other places to go in Southern Maine include Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport, Sebago Lake State Park in Casco and Naples, and Harris Farm in Dayton. For more cross-country skiing opportunities all around Maine, check out our list at pressherald.com.

People gather for cross-country skiing at Riverside Golf Course in Portland in January. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

FROZEN FORE

Who says you have to stop playing golf when the snow falls? The Minuteman disc golf course at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester is open year-round, from dawn to dusk. The 18-hole course is over 4,100 feet long, and plays through wooded fairways, hayfields and rolling hills. A round of golf is $8 and disc rentals are $3.  Pineland Farms is also a great one-stop winter recreation center, offering cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, fat-tire biking, skating and sledding. For prices, hours, rental information and trail conditions, go to pinelandfarms.org.

Pineland Farms in New Gloucester has myriad winter activities to try. Photo courtesy of Pineland Farms