Winter in Madison, WI: sledding, skating, skiing and warm places to go

Sledding

Madison Parks suggests hills at Elver Park, Garner Park, Olbrich Park, Warner Park, Aldo Leopold Park, Arbor Hills, Berkley, Hiestand and Orlando Bell. Only Elver is monitored: its hill is lit for evening sledding when there's good snow cover, with a warming house and sled rental when staffed.

Outside the city, Indian Lake County Park has a sledding hill with a log-cabin warming house, Lake Kegonsa State Park has one by the beach (state park sticker required), and Lake View Hill Park is the high ground on the north side.

Skating

Madison Parks runs free skating on about 20 rinks and frozen lagoons in 14 parks, ice permitting. The classic is the lagoon at Tenney Park, with a warming pavilion; Henry Vilas Park's lagoon is next to the zoo. Warming shelters are usually staffed Wednesday to Friday 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m., through early or mid-February.

• Rentals at Tenney, Elver, Vilas and Door Creek; free loaner skates at Olbrich, Rennebohm, Warner and Westmorland.
• The Edgewater hotel turns its lakefront plaza into an ice rink in winter.
• In DeForest, Young Blood Beer Co.'s flagship brewery has patios overlooking an outdoor rink where kids can skate.

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing

• Free city trails: Owen Conservation Park (nearly 2 miles) and Turville Point (about 2 miles, easy to intermediate).
• City trails that need a permit (ages 16 and up): Elver Park, with easy, intermediate and advanced loops, and Door Creek Park.
• UW–Madison Arboretum: skiing and snowshoeing on its designated trails only; no dogs.
• State parks (vehicle sticker required): Governor Nelson grooms trails for classic skiing, Lake Kegonsa has about five miles of groomed trail, and Blue Mound has more than 20 miles of trails.
• County parks: groomed trails at Capital Springs (about 6 miles), Indian Lake and Token Creek need a Dane County ski permit for ages 16 and up, and dogs aren't allowed on groomed ski trails.

When it's too cold: warm places to go

• Olbrich Botanical Gardens: the Bolz Conservatory is a tropical glasshouse with orchids, free-flying birds and a waterfall, free on Wednesday and Saturday mornings; the Holiday Express flower and model train show runs in the holiday season.
• Free museums: the Chazen Museum of Art, MMoCA on State Street, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and the UW Geology Museum.
• For kids: the Madison Children's Museum (free Thursday nights), Urban Air, indoor mini golf at Vitense Golfland, and Cave of the Mounds, where it's about 50 degrees underground all year. More in our kids guide.
• Bouldering: Boulders Climbing Gym, a block off the Capitol Square.

Winter events

• Holiday Fantasy in Lights at Olin Park: a free drive-through light show from November 14 through New Year's Eve.
• Zoo Lights at Henry Vilas Zoo opens November 20, 2026.
• The Dane County Farmers' Market moves indoors: the Holiday Market at Monona Terrace (Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, 12, 19) and the Winter Market at Garver Feed Mill on Saturdays from January 2 to April 3, 2027.
• Frozen Fest in Sun Prairie, January 28 to February 2, 2027: sled dogs, ice carving and a winter market, ending with the Groundhog Day prediction.

See the events calendar, our holiday season guide and, before the first snow, our winter parking guide.