Swiss Valley
Swiss Valley is a ski area located in the state of Michigan in USA. The resort is in the town of Jones, MI.
We recently ranked all of Michigan's ski resorts, so you can see where Swiss Valley stacks up against all its nearby ski hills!
Season Passes
Swiss Valley is a part of the INDY Ski Pass system. This allows you to buy one lift pass, and ski at all of the slopes that are also a part of the group.
Lodging Options
There are numerous options to stay at Swiss Valley around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.
Swiss Valley Terrain Overview
Swiss Valley has a total of 11 ski trails, which are serviced by 7 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. Swiss Valley is considered a smaller than average ski area, with only a maximum of 60 acres available to ski. This area is equivalent to 24 hectares, 0.1 square miles, or 0.2 square kilometers.
Swiss Valley's slopes see on average 60 inches (1.5 meters) of snowfall a year.
Total Runs
11
Lifts
7
Skiable Acres
60(0 km2)
Annual Snowfall
60"(152 cm)
Swiss Valley Elevation
Swiss Valley has a summit elevation of 1,200 feet, or 366 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 975 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 225 feet (69 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.
Swiss Valley has a very low summit elevation. The summit of this park is one of the smaller ones in the country.
Summit Elevation
1,200'(366 m)
Vertical Drop
225'(69 m)
Base Elevation
975'(297 m)
Swiss Valley Difficulty Level
Difficulty Score™
31.7out of 100
DID YOU KNOW?
At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level
Swiss Valley has 60 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.
Swiss Valley is a beginner-friendly ski area, with about 20% of its trails as easy. However, it also has a fair share of more difficult runs - which account for the remaining 80%.
Beginner
20%(12 acres)
Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.
Intermediate
60%(36 acres)
Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.
Expert
20%(12 acres)
Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.
Is Swiss Valley good for beginners?
Swiss Valley can be beginner-friendly, depending on the runs you take. While it ranks in the lower half of all North American ski areas in terms of overall difficulty, it still has 80% of its trails rated at or above intermediate.
Swiss Valley Location
Swiss Valley is located in the state of Michigan, USA. This ski area is nearest the town of Jones, MI.
Address:
Jones, MI 49061 USA
View on Google Maps
Website:
skiswissvalley.com
GPS Coordinates:
44.32000, -85.60000
Getting to Swiss Valley
By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Swiss Valley), its coordinates of 44.32000, -85.60000 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of Jones, MI to get close.
By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.
A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Swiss Valley.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport | MKE | Milwaukee, WI | 149 mi |
| Detroit Metropolitan Airport | DTW | Detroit, MI | 184 mi |
| O'Hare International Airport | ORD | Chicago, IL | 199 mi |
A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Swiss Valley.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Capital Airport | TVC | Traverse City, MI | 29 mi |
| Muskegon County Airport | MKG | Muskegon, MI | 86 mi |
| MBS International Airport | MBS | Saginaw, MI | 93 mi |
There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Swiss Valley, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.
Other Nearby Ski Resorts
Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Swiss Valley.
| Name | Location | Summit | Difficulty Score™ | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caberfae Peaks | Boon, MI | 1,545 ft | 37% | 0 mi |
| Ski Brule | Boon, MI | 1,861 ft | 39% | 0 mi |
| Snow Snake | Harrison, MI | 1,230 ft | 29% | 0 mi |
| Crystal Mountain | Thompsonville, MI | 1,132 ft | 34% | 24 mi |
| Mt. Holiday | Traverse City, MI | 440 ft | 36% | 30 mi |
| Schuss Mountain at Shanty Creek | Bellaire, MI | 1,125 ft | 36% | 46 mi |
| Hanson Hills | Grayling, MI | 1,362 ft | 15% | 47 mi |
| Alpine Valley | Elmira, MI | 1,210 ft | 33% | 57 mi |
| Timber Ridge | Gobles, MI | 941 ft | 24% | 58 mi |
| Bittersweet | Grant, MI | 850 ft | 29% | 66 mi |
| Boyne Mountain | Boyne Falls, MI | 1,120 ft | 28% | 67 mi |
| Treetops | Gaylord, MI | 1,345 ft | 29% | 67 mi |
| Petoskey Sports Park | Petoskey, MI | 791 ft | 0% | 79 mi |
| Nubs Nob | Harbor Springs, MI | 1,338 ft | 31% | 86 mi |
| Cannonsburg | Belmont, MI | 1,100 ft | 46% | 87 mi |
| Mulligan's Hollow | Grand Haven, MI | 1,300 ft | 17% | 92 mi |
| Apple Mountain | Freeland, MI | 620 ft | 24% | 95 mi |
Swiss Valley Mountain Stats
| Name | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Summit Elevation | 1,200 ft |
| Base Elevation | 975 ft |
| Vertical Drop | 225 ft |
| Trails | 11 (20% Beginner, 60% Intermediate, 20% Expert) |
| Lifts | 7 |
| Skiable Acres | 60 |
| Avg. Annual Snowfall | 60 inches |