If you are born in Florida or move to Florida you get to enjoy those winters where you can suntan at the beach, relax on the boat, or go golfing in the afternoon. One thing you never expect to do is play in the snow, go sledding down a hill, or even use your gloves to keep your fingers warm. That has all changed.

Snowcat Ridge opened up here in Dade City, Florida, just north of Tampa off of I-75. Snowcat Ridge is Florida’s first snow park which features snow tubing down a 400 ft hill which is 60 ft high. Not only do they have the slopes, but they also have an igloo where they have snow machines running to create the real snow. The temperature in the igloo is kept at 30 degrees to keep it nice and cool.

This is not the first attempt at snow in Florida as a theme park. 4-5 years ago Christmastown at Busch Gardens attempted to have the snow areas with limited success. Being exposed to the elements had the snow melting faster than they expected and it turned to be more troublesome then worth keeping. Snowcat Ridge seems to have solved this problem with the enclosure of the igloo. They also have a village where there is food vendors, drinks, crafts, and other things one can buy while there.

Snowcat Ridge has your standard admission fee. This fee includes 2 hours on the “slopes” to tube down the ice path. The igloo and other areas are unlimited with your admission. Depending when you go there can be lengthy lines for the slopes. On a Thursday evening we were going down within 5 minutes on the single tubes, but the tandem was about 20 minutes for us. The family tubes (which can hold 4-8 people) seemed to take a lot longer. I would suggest to get there on time during the transition to maximize your time on the slopes and wait for everything else afterwards.

My review gives the park an excellent rating in customer service, appearance, and operation for the slopes. It also had a good fun factor going down with the cold air in my face. The igloo also has mini slopes for the under 3 years olds to enjoy also. I was lucky enough to have a 2 year old, 8 year old and myself to experience the slopes. It was hard for myself to cross my feet and keep legs in, but the downhill factor was actually helping me relive sledding down my front yard. The 8 year old LOVED it. Inside the igloo the 2 year old clapped his hands in approval so you know it had high ratings.

For most people 2 hours is enough. For kids it would be if there was enough time to slide down multiple times. The one critique I would have is the time blocks. Two hours would not be enough time in a sold out session to fully immerse yourself into an evening of fun. Now Snowcat Ridge does have an unlimited option for an additional fee. Another idea that might be implemented is a season pass. The costs really do not afford a return trip as a repeat customer for the normal family. One final addition that could be thought of post-pandemic would be the village turned into Santa’s Village and has Mr. and Mrs. Claus there for the kiddies before Christmas.

In summation, I would HIGHLY recommend experiencing this. Especially if you have no experience with the winter whatsoever. It is a winter memory one cannot experience well in the South until now. Tickets can be bought in advance at Snowcatridge.com. It is recommended to do advance purchasing. They are limiting admission as a safety factor during the pandemic and it is also $5 more at the location then what you see online.

From a pandemic point, I was pleased to see ALL employees had masks on and reminding the guests to put on their masks. As with all places like this, it is hard to get everyone, but I did not feel in any danger or stressed because of the few instances I saw. Overall I would call it a very safe park and would not let that deter you from visiting.

The people that developed this park also developed Treehoppers and Screamageddon. The 2 before have proven to be game-changers in how those events are offered, Snowcat Ridge has proven to be a game changer also.

David “Thrills” is an avid theme park and entertainment enthusiast. Snowcat Ridge provided me with complementary admission to do this review, but all opinions and views are of my own. Pictures are owned by me and taken with permission. For more excitement and news follow me on twitter or instagram. You can also email me at tampathrillme@gmail.com. Subscribe to my blog for more exciting reviews and contests in the future.