Florida's first snow park on track to open in Pasco next month
Rendering courtesy Snowcat Ridge
DADE CITY, Fla. - Most people move to Florida to avoid cold weather, but snowflakes will soon be falling in Pasco County. The state’s first outdoor snow park opens in Dade City next month.
On the same property as Treehoppers Aerial Adventure Park and Scream-A-Geddon, crews are busy building a mountain. Snowcat Ridge will be a winter wonderland right here in the Sunshine State.
“We’re gonna be able to bring snow and that whole experience to kids and families who have never seen snow before, and all the fun you can have when you kinda get to play around in it,” explained Winston McDaniel, marketing manager for Snowcat Ridge.
Construction on the park started last spring, transforming flat fields into a 60-foot hill with a snow-tube run more than 400 feet long. Once open, folks can ride single, tandem, or family-sized tubes down the snow-covered slopes.
Construction has been underway for months.
“We will have an arctic igloo, it’s a big dome that we’re building that’s basically going to have a smaller hill for smaller children and toddlers, as well as a big snow play area where they can even build snowmen,” McDaniel said.
The Alpine Village will have food and drinks for sale, a market area with vendors, seating and fire pits.
The snow may be man-made out of water, but it is completely real. So make sure you bring your cold-weather gear.
“We really wanted to build a unique, one-of-a-kind experience in Florida,” said McDaniel.
Rendering courtesy Snowcat Ridge
Snowcat Ridge is the only outdoor snow park in the state. It will be open for business seasonally, with exact dates of operation depending on the weather and temperatures.
“This is a snow park. Not a water park,” McDaniel joked.
The construction of Snowcat Ridge is in the final stages, and the park is on track to open to the public in November.
This season, the company hopes to be up and running until spring break time.