On average, Arlington has a sledding window of approximately one to three days each winter. In preparation, I have compiled a list of the most (and least) distinguished hills for sledding in Arlington for early planning. With only a few days available for sledding, it’s all the more important to choose your best option and get to planning.
Nottingham: The Nottingham Elementary School hills are among some of the most popular around Arlington. Known for its spacious hills, kids come from far and wide to sled here when the snow is right. The hills surround the back of the school and cascade into the school baseball field. Nottingham has a terrific selection of hills to choose from. This means that you can swiftly migrate to a less populous hill in case one area is overrun with children, something not every location has to offer. My one critique I will mention is the lack of running room available at the top of the Nottingham hills. However, this location still makes for some sturdy sledding hills. I give Nottingham 4.5/5 snowballs.
Tuckahoe: The sledding hills at Tuckahoe Elementary School are steep but limited. They slope down into a mixing bowl of baseball fields and playgrounds that surround the school. While these hills are on the steeper side, they’re also shorter in length. However, their steepness makes up for this lack. It’s also worth noting that Tuckahoe does not have an abundance of running room either for those who prefer a running head start. Nevertheless, the area of the landing zone stretches these hills by at least a couple feet. This location’s best feature may just be its sleek terrain that makes for a smooth ride. Tuckahoe always attracts a crowd when the snow finally sticks and achieves an honest rating of 3/5 snowballs.
Dorothy Hamm: This one’s a doozy. As convincing as recommendations may seem (I myself received multiple), they deceive. To start, the sledding hill located at Dorothy Hamm Middle School is hardly a hill, spanning no more than a three second sleigh ride. Once sledders reach the bottom almost instantly, a ditch that doubles as the draining system for the soccer field and a crater to stop sleds in their tracks awaits them. It is nearly impossible to mind this gap, as other obstacles such as a sewer surrounded by dead shrubs and a soccer goal form a blockade around it, assuring sledders that they are certain to hit or scrape something at the bottom of the hill. The only perk to this location is the available running room at the top of the hill, but no running head start is going to launch sledders over any of the features that await them at the bottom. Its landing zone compromises the hill in its entirety. This hill is borderline unsleddable. 1/5 snowballs.
Jamestown: Finally, the list closes on a high note with Jamestown Elementary School. This hidden gem of a hill is quietly nestled on the back field of the school, and pours out into the surrounding neighborhood. One unique feature of Jamestown’s hill is the plethora of running room that spans the length of the entire field. This is great for sledders looking for a solid running head start. This, combined with its lengthy drop (easily triple that of any of the above locations), allows for optimum velocity and acceleration. The unique three tier hill also allows for the possibility to go airborne, a big attraction for many. The Jamestown sledding hill’s opportunities are endless, and so is its rating. I give it 6/5 snowballs.
Each sledder has their own preferences when selecting their hill. Some important features to take note of are as follows: steepness of the hill, length of the hill, average crowdedness of the hill, and area of the landing zone. Whatever you’re looking for in a hill when sledding, you are sure to find one of your liking somewhere around Arlington. Now go get to planning.
