Sleigh rides through elk at Hardware Wildlife Management Area to continue

A file photo of Chance Getz, one of the sleigh operators and guides, stops to talk to his passengers about the elk at Hardware Ranch in Dec. 2019.

HYRUM — Sleigh rides through the elk at Hardware Wildlife Management Area will again be offered this year after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

A file photo of passengers who have a chance to see about 500 elk in the meadow at Hardware Ranch this Winter.

Starting Friday Dec. 2, the horse-drawn sleigh and wagon rides will be offered through the middle of hundreds of wild elk while they are feeding at the southern Cache Valley site.

The elk are fed during the winter to try to keep them from migrating down Blacksmith Fork Canyon into private haystacks in the valley below. This winter, the length of time staff feed the elk will be shorter than it has been in the past.

New this year is Haviland’s Old West Adventures, a long-time business in Cache County will offer the rides on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Rides will be offered every weekend through Feb. 12 and start at 10 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. each day.

We’re excited to be able to offer the sleigh rides again at the Hardware WMA and to have Haviland’s as our partner in these efforts,” Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Hardware WMA Manager Brad Hunt said. “We know they’ll do a great job.”

The ride will lasts about 40 minutes. The cost for the ride will be $10 for those 9 years of age or older and $4 for those 4 to 8 years old. Children 3 years of age and younger ride for no charge.

Organizers are expecting large crowds this winter because it wasn’t offered for a couple of years.

Hunt suggested visitors do the rides on Sunday when people will likely spend less time in line for a ride.

“Fewer people visit the WMA on Sundays, so you can typically get on a sleigh faster,” he said.

In addition to the sleigh rides, you can buy lunch from a food trailer that Haviland’s will have on site. Participants can also learn about the migration habits of wildlife in Utah by taking a brief walk through the Wildlife Education Center which will also open for the winter season that Friday.

“A very popular activity we’ve held in the past is making Christmas ornaments using sagebrush, bitterbrush and other plants found at the WMA,” Marni Lee, the DWR’s interpretive director at the center, said. “We’ll offer that activity in December.”

Hardware WMA is 16 miles east of Hyrum. You can reach the WMA by traveling on state Route 101 through scenic Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

For more information, visit the DWR website.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.