Wintertime visitors to Mt. Bachelor have long enjoyed the on-hill daycare facilities while skiing and snowboarding. As of spring 2024, families can now enjoy that same level of childcare year-round for kiddos 6 weeks to 10 years old. That means families can have their younger children and babies cared for while parents get their adrenaline-fix downhill mountain biking, on a Zip Tour, hiking, disc golfing, enjoying a scenic lift ride and more.
Enjoy Recreation and Fun at the Mountain
The Mt. Bachelor childcare facility is located on the bottom level of the West Village Lodge on the resort’s lower slopes. Guests can book a full or half-day session, plus new 2.5-hour bookings, which are perfect for heading out on the Zip Tour.
Kids will find plenty of ways to stay busy in the daycare center, which features an array of age-appropriate play areas, including a main open playroom, a separate play area for younger kids, and a quiet nap area for the littlest ones. There’s also a kitchen for preparing peanut-free meals and snacks.
Daycare Manager Megan Tool says the most popular activity for all ages is crafts, where the kids can get their hands dirty. “We love making playdough and slime and the kids love anything involving paint,” she says. “Another favorite is our sensory bins.”
Presley Quon, Communications & Community Relations Manager at Mt. Bachelor, is one of many resort employees who use the on-site daycare. Quon’s infant daughter especially likes the sensory toys and playing with the other babies. Quon and her partner are looking forward to adding summertime fun to wintertime skiing. “We’re especially excited to use it when the Bike Park opens,” she says. “It’ll be nice to get our adrenaline fix before we take her out for a fun Strider bike session.”
Developing a Love for Outdoor Recreation
While there’s no shortage of fun indoors, the resort is in the process of developing outdoor recreation for the daycare kiddos similar to the wintertime programs, which include a Signature Start half-day ski and snowboard lesson for kids 3–5 paired with the daycare and the Snow Explorer Program, which offers kids over 30 months old the opportunity to get bundled up and head outside for fresh air and snow play.
Tool envisions similar options for the summertime. These options could include outdoor walks, picnics, and possibly even laps around the Strider bike course.
Tool also hopes to incorporate learning into these outdoor experiences: “We can learn about native plant and animal species we may see on nature walks or that some of the mountains nearby are volcanoes and what that means. At the end of each lesson, we’ll tie that in with an art project that can be taken home to share with their families!”
The daycare center is scheduled to operate seven days per week in the summer and winter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., conditions permitting. The shoulder season hours during the fall and spring will be somewhat reduced to reflect resort operations.
All information about Mt. Bachelor’s year-round daycare services and bookings are available on the Mt. Bachelor website. Advanced reservations are suggested, but the daycare center will also offer drop-ins as available for spur-of-the-moment fun!
