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Snow activities like snowboarding and skiing have been bringing in more money than ever for Connecticut, following the national trend of an increase in outdoor recreation.

U.S. outdoor recreation brought in more money in 2023 than in past years, accounting for 2.3% of gross domestic product, according to the most recent Outdoor Recreation Satellite report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The “snow activities” subset had an economic impact of $7.7 billion to the national economy in 2023.

In Connecticut, winter sports accounted for 1.2%, or $66,172,000, of all economic impact brought in from outdoor recreational sports in 2023. Colorado, California and Utah saw the most value added to their economies from snow activities.

Connecticut ranked 28th for the percentage of economic impact generated from snow activities.

Connecticut is home to four ski resorts and has multiple opportunities for snowmobiling and other winter activities in the state. However, snow sports do not bring a large amount of money to the state’s economy compared to other outdoor activities like boating, RVing and hunting.

The Connecticut Tourism Office curated a list of winter activities for residents and visitors to participate in this season. While traditional snow sports made the list, some mountains offer less conventional winter activities like snow biking and snow tubing.

The list also recommends some winter hikes, which would fall under hiking, not snow activities, even on a snowy day.

For those who would prefer to stay warm, numerous recreational indoor activities were also listed, including rock climbing and an indoor ropes course.

Sasha is a data reporter with The Connecticut Mirror. She focuses on producing data-driven reporting and data visualizations for the newsroom. Prior to joining CT Mirror, Sasha worked part time for the Herald-Mail, a newspaper based in Western Maryland. As a 2025 graduate from the University of Maryland, she worked as a reporter and copy editor for Capital News Service, the university’s wire service, covering the state legislature, the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, school board elections, youth mental health and climate change. Sasha also worked as an intern for the Baltimore Magazine, and was a reporter for the Diamondback, the university’s independent, student-run newspaper.