What to Do on a Snowy Day: Take the Sled to Holmdel Park

Holmdel Park is one of our favorite places to hang out, but I’d never been there in the winter before. The sledding hill is AWESOME!

Lots more pictures below!

One of the hazards of snow that has been shoveled: icy walkways. Even though the Holmdel Park staff coats the walkways with dirt, they can still be slick.

I love the trees in Holmdel Park.

I was really impressed with the organization of the sledding hill! Almost everyone was having a great time! I definately recommend Holmdel Park as a great place to go sledding in New Jersey!

Two exceptions to the “people having a great time” theory: people trekking back up the hill with their sleds and snow tubes (gotta get one of THOSE!) and the people standing at the bottom of the hill getting clipped by the people zooming down.

Hint: if you go with children — tell them that if they’re going to stand around at the bottom of the hill, LOOK OUT!

Love this shot of Brad’s boots at the top of the hill!

That’s Brad on the left and his friend, Gabe, on the right.

Brad was having a great time!

He looks like a penguin.

Next time I go, I’m leaving the camera home and taking a snow tube!

Gabe!

Check out Mike! I was so lucky I got this shot of him because he only went down the hill once and it was hard for me to see unless I had my long lens up to my eye. But if I kept the camera up to my face, I could have been side-swiped by a sledder (more likely a snow-tuber) who took a quick turn. So, this shot: pure luck! And I love it!

Note the walking sticks — Brad (2nd from left) is an experienced hiker. He always brings walking sticks when he goes hiking in hilly terrain. Very smart thinking, Brad. That stick helped me feel confident on icy trails with all that heavy camera equipment. Thanks!

Grex in blue!

Check out his speed over those two in green!

He was having a great time!

I was having a great time taking pictures of all the smiling faces.

And I was having a great time taking pictures of the wipe-outs too. (I’m bad.)

Gabe!

Me: “No, I will not pull you up the hill, Grex.”

I love this shot of Brad because it shows the long trail up the hill. Off in the distance, several hundred yards off the top of this crop, is the visitor center. In winter, temporary walls are installed in the otherwise open center, giving people a place to warm up for a bit. Bonus! There’s a huge fireplace in the visitor center and on Saturday, it was ROARING!

Another shot of Brad’s downhilling boots. (Probably not a word, “downhilling.”)

I think Holmdel got around 8 or 10 inches of snow. Perfect for sledding down that hill.

Happy! I love the happy face on my teenager.

Wipe-out!

Love that kid’s hat.

Love the flying feet.

That guy looks like a serious sledder.

The pond at Holmdel Park, covered in ice and snow. There were “Thin Ice” signs all around though, so no ice skating. Boo.

There are lots of beech trees in Holmdel Park, which is one reason it’s one of my favorite places to go in New Jersey.

There’s Grex again. I was so happy he was having such a good time. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go. He was tired, wet and cold from our long morning walk on the same day. Click here to see those pictures!

Love you, Grex!

I thought it was really cool how these dads were playing with their little kids by taking them down the hill on their backs.

Wish the dads could see the pictures of their kids having such a great time!

How many people can you get on your sled?

I love the depth of field in this shot because it almost looks like Bradley’s stepping out of a pane of glass.

Running up the hill lasts for about two seconds. Then reality sets in. Ugh!

The walk up is so worth the trip down though!

Grex loves this picture! He’s been praying for a big snow storm. So happy you got your big storm, sweetie!

LOVE THIS ONE!

Thanks, Holmdel, for the great day!