Florida's first outdoor snow park opens Nov. 20

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 week.

Snowcat Ridge will be a winter wonderland right here in the Sunshine State, starting Friday, November 20.

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. On the same property as Treehoppers Aerial Adventure Park and Scream-A-Geddon, crews have been busy building a mountain.

Once open, folks can ride single, tandem, or family-sized tubes down the snow-covered slopes.

Rendering courtesy Snowcat Ridge

“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. “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."

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 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 season, the company hopes to be up and running until spring break time.