Florida's 1st Alpine Snow Park Opens In Dade City

DADE CITY, FL — It may be 80 degrees in the rest of Pasco County but in Dade City it's sweater weather.

Florida's first snow park, Snowcat Ridge Alpine Snow Park, opened Friday with a grand-opening ceremony at 10 a.m.

The snow park features a massive snow tubing hill, Alpine Village and a 10,000-square-foot snow-covered Arctic Igloo.

In the planning for more than a year, the snow tubing hill, Snowy Slopes, will be covered with man-made authentic snow. It will soar 60 feet high and plunge 400 feet. A pair of Magic Carpet lifts will whisk riders and their snow tubes to the top of the hill. Guests can ride in a single, tandem or family-style tube down Snowy Slopes.

In the Arctic Igloo, guests can build snowmen or snow castles out of real snow. The 10,000-square-foot Arctic Igloo snow dome will also include a child-sized snow hill for younger guests.

Snowcat Ridge will also feature a magical music and light show on Snowy Slopes each evening, visible from the Alpine Village, which features its own Holiday Market. Visitors will be able to grab food and hot cocoa while relaxing near a bonfire.

No one's more excited about the park's opening than Adam Thomas, director of Florida's Sports Coast, Pasco County's tourism promotion department.

Pasco County rebranded its tourism arm to focus on the numerous indoor and outdoor recreational activities that the county offers. He said the snow park adds to the diversity of the area's recreational activities and should "really drive visitors and international visitors here.''

For those who can't make it to the event, Florida's Sports Coast will live-streamed the grand opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday on its Facebook page.

Snowcat Ridge is located next to TreeHoppers Aerial Adventure Park, another outdoor adventure park developed by Point Summit in Clearwater.

Treehoppers Aerial Adventure Park opened in 2005 on a 60-acre tract at 27839 Saint Joe Road in Dade City with more than 100 climbing zip lines, rope bridges and other climbing apparatus perched high in the properties hills, massive live oak trees and 5-acre lake.

Point Summit CEO Benjamin Nagengast is also the mastermind behind the popular seasonal Scream-A-Geddon horror park on the Treehoppers property.

Snowcat Ridge is located at 27839 Saint Joe Road. Tickets cost between $24.95 and $39.95. Click here to purchase tickets in advance for $5 off the price.