Thanksgiving at Snowshoe: what’s open and what’s on in 2026
Snowshoe Mountain is aiming to open for the 2026/27 ski season on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, weather permitting. A Turkey Shoot, a Turkey Trek walk/run and the Village Tree Lighting fill out the holiday weekend.
Is Snowshoe open on Thanksgiving? The plan says yes. The resort’s official schedule lists opening day as Nov. 25, weather permitting. Whether the lifts actually spin depends on cold nights for snowmaking between now and then. See our Groomer Notes brief on snowmaking-cold hours near Mid-Atlantic resorts for what NOAA hourly records show since the mid-2000s.
The official holiday schedule
Snowshoe’s 2026/27 winter event calendar, which the resort labels tentative and subject to change, lists four dates for the long weekend:
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Winter Season Opening Day, weather permitting.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27: the Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot, billed in the resort’s printed schedule as the 11th annual. “No actual turkeys are harmed in the making of this mountain tradition,” the listing says.
- Friday, Nov. 27: the Turkey Trek walk/run. “Costumes encouraged; trail shoes recommended.”
- Saturday, Nov. 28: the Village Tree Lighting, which Snowshoe calls “one of Snowshoe’s favorite traditions.”
Nov. 25 is also the first day of Snowshoe’s value season, which the resort lists as running through Dec. 17, weather permitting. Its published holiday dates for the season do not start until Dec. 27.
The rebuilt Shavers Center, the resort’s new main day lodge, is expected to open with the ski area on Nov. 25, Snowshoe marketing director Shawn Cassell told West Virginia Explorer. It will have cafeteria-style dining, the paper reported.
What about Thanksgiving dinner?
As of Oct. 21, Snowshoe had not posted a 2026 Thanksgiving dinner, menu or price. We checked the official events calendar, the printed winter schedule and the dining pages.
The resort has served one before. In 2010, when warm weather delayed the season, Snowshoe said its Junction Restaurant would serve “a traditional Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday” anyway. On Thanksgiving Day 2021, the resort said traditional Thanksgiving favorites would be available from noon to 8 p.m. at the Junction Ale House and the Shavers Center. Plan on calling ahead, and we will update this story if Snowshoe posts a 2026 dinner.
Season passholders get 15% off at Snowshoe-owned restaurants, according to the resort. The discount does not apply to alcohol or to dining at 10 Prime.
No passholder preview day has been announced for 2026. Snowshoe held one in 2022, the day before its Nov. 23 opening, for passholders and employees.
How often has it worked out?
The day-before-Thanksgiving target is a habit, not a promise. We went back through Snowshoe’s openings since 2010 using resort announcements and named news outlets.
In seven of the 16 seasons from 2010 through 2025, Snowshoe’s season had opened by Thanksgiving Day: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. In the other nine, the opener came later. Twice, in 2016 and 2017, it came the day after the holiday. The last three seasons all missed. In 2023 the resort opened Dec. 2, and in both 2024 and 2025 it opened Dec. 5.
The reason is nearly always the same. In 2025, Snowshoe pushed its opener back because “opportunities for snowmaking have been very limited,” WBOY reported. In 2024 the forecast showed no real chance for more snowmaking, the resort said, though Snowshoe still offered dining, shopping and holiday activities on Thanksgiving.
A white Thanksgiving is a separate question, and a harder one to answer. Of the years we checked, we could confirm natural snow at Snowshoe over the holiday only in 2014. That year snow was falling as the ropes dropped on Nov. 26, WV MetroNews reported, and The Register-Herald called it “this white Thanksgiving.” For the other years, we could not find a reliable record either way, and we are not going to guess.
Planning the trip
In 2022, Snowshoe opened with about a dozen trails in the Basin, not the whole mountain. Early-season plans can change on short notice. Check the resort’s snow report before you load the car. For the opening itself, see our Snowshoe opening day story. If you are weighing Thanksgiving against later in the winter, see our guide to the best time to visit Snowshoe.
The full winter lineup is in our Snowshoe 2026/27 events calendar.
For trails, lodging and getting there, see our Snowshoe resort guide.
Corrections: info@mtninfo.com