Eagles Mere [PA] Toboggan Slide to return after 10-year hiatus

Williamsport Sun Gazette ^ | 1-27-25 | Matthew Courter

[FLNittany]

Volunteers were hard at work this weekend building the Eagles Mere Toboggan Slide. The ice blocks are slid into place after they have been cut far out on the lake and driven up the hill 6 at a time. The slide has not been in operation in over 10 years. Opening day is planned for Friday Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Recent temperatures may have had many piling on extra layers while pining for sunny summer days, but the frigid air has also made the return of the beloved Eagles Mere Toboggan Slide possible after it was cancelled for the 10th year in a row in 2024, due to above average temperatures.

Building of the slide began over the weekend, with an opening date of 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan 31, according to a post on the Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Company website.

The post was met with immediate enthusiasm, with one commenter reminiscing, “I was about 15 and I’m 51 now. I’ll never forget it.”

“I realize now that my experiences in Sullivan County were truly once in a lifetime as a kid. This slide was one of them,” she continued.

“Great childhood memories! I hope to bring my family to experience,” another commenter posted.

[FLNittany]

A rare opportunity for those in PA to experience something you'll never forget - whistling down a street at 45 mph onto a frozen lake.

Here's video from the last time they built it in 2014:

Eagles Mere 2014

Oh, and Eagles Mere is one of the most wonderful little towns in the country. Always has been.

[lee martell]

You answered my question. I was going to ask why they used the qualifier ‘Mere’ in the name. Turns out Mere is a part of that “Eagles Mere” name.

[utahb52]

Why does that make me think of a Darwin Award?

[WhoisAlanGreenspan?]

Thanks for the sled ride, and I didn’t even get my hair messed.

[FLNittany]

Perfectly safe. A 90 year old woman (townie) got to ride it yesterday. Was all smiles. You can put a whole family (up to 5) on one toboggan. Kids think it’s the coolest thing ever.

[woodbutcher1963]

I grew up near this Erie county(Buffalo, NY) park.
It is in the town of Orchard Park(home of the Bills).

The buildings date back to the Great Depression.

I learned how to ski on this hill with a rope tow.
They had two or three tobaggan shoots. Also a sledding hill.

We had our own tobaggan that we would take up there back in the day. It now states maximum four riders allowed. I recalling putting five or six people on an 8’ tobaggan. It was about a 1/2 mile walk back up to the top of the hill.

https://www3.erie.gov/parks/chestnut-ridge-winter-activities

https://www3.erie.gov/parks/chestnut-ridge

[married21]

That looks so fun. Thanks for posting the video.

[woodbutcher1963]

Here are a couple YouTube video of the Tobaggan shoots at Chestnut Ridge park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YbxAw4dam0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZiONvQX_1A

The walk back up the hill was really long when you were a little kid.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

My dad used to take golf trips to Eagles Mare with his buddies after he retired. It was a three hour drive north of their place in Downingtown, PA. He really enjoyed golfing there a lot.

I had no idea the town was famous for this toboggan slide! What fun!

Aside...is there a better word in the English language than "toboggan." Just say it slowly and pause on the letter structure. Being raised in upstate NY, I figured it had an Indian etymology and, sure enough:

"long, flat-bottomed sled," made of a single thickness of wood (usually birch), bent back at one end and used originally for transport over snow; 1829, from Canadian French tabagane, from an Algonquian language, such as Maleseet.

We got a toboggan from my wife's dad when he passed. She used it with her brother and family on their winter trips to the Sierras. We used it when the kids were little, but somewhere along the line we must have sold it or donated it. Too bad. Those things were a blast!

[fireman15]

That sounds like a lot of fun! We used to travel up to Paradise which is 5400 ft AGL on Mount Rainier. My parents owned cabins just outside the park entrance, so we went there frequently.

They typically have very deep snow there in the winter because of Westerly winds carrying moisture laden see air up the mountain. They used to have the most remarkable sled and innertube runs along with a ski lift that was retired when I was a kid in the 60s. But there are still good places to Cross County ski.

We tried to take some of our grandkids up there about 20 years ago. I had tied some big innertubes to the top of our Bronco and one of our friends had more in his pickup. When we got to the park entrance, we were refused entry because of the innertubes. We were told by the gate staff that they and all types of sleds were forbidden. I said that it was alright... we would just go sightseeing and play in the snow without them. But we were told that myself and everyone with me were not going to be allowed in the park that day because of our original intentions to go “tubin”. They didn’t care if we deflated the tubes before entry or not.

We made the best of the day by driving up some logging roads that were no longer being maintained along with about a thousand other people. My friend’s pickup slid off the road in an icy spot when he tried to get off to one side to make room for an oncoming vehicle. I damaged one of his wheels winching it back up to the road. But we still managed to have a good time.

It was sad to see how badly the park was run compared to when I was a kid.

[Hot Tabasco]

Wow, that is so cool! Just curious, where are the ice fishermen?

[FLNittany]

It’s a lake resort town of about 120 residents year round. I’m sure some ice fish the lake, but there are other lakes like Rose Valley and the Scranton/WB area lakes that are probably better fishing.

[Hot Tabasco]

It looks like a perfect perch, crappie, and blue gill lake.....

[pa_dweller]

With a beautiful state park in the area, too.

[FLNittany]

The whole area is about the most beautiful place in the world - to me at least (and I live a block from the beach in Jupiter, FL). The PA Wilds (25% of the state's land w/ 4 % of its population) is one of the yet undiscovered gems of our country.

I want people to visit and experience the area. It's amazing.

Ricketts Glen is just phenomenal.

[pa_dweller]

Ricketts Glen is just phenomenal.
- =

Yes. I remember a family camping trip there. We walked down the waterfall trail.

[pa_dweller]

p.s. thanks for the pic!

[pa_dweller]

p.s. thanks for the pic!

[MayflowerMadam]

Oh! Chestnut Ridge! It’s where we had our Sunday School Picnics every year.

I always remember the ride like a merry-go-round that we called the ocean wave. Very dangerous, now that I think of it, but we didn’t consider those things.

Of course, toboggan parties for the youth group every winter. That walk up the hill ... Ugh

[woodbutcher1963]

I grew up about a mile down the hill from there.