Wild River Country to Transform Into Winter Wonderland
NOTE: Due to rain, the opening date has been delayed until the morning of Nov. 23!
For the first time ever, Arkansans can trade their summer thrills for winter chills at Wild River Country. Starting Nov. 22, visitors will find a snowy paradise in place of their beloved water park. Wild Winter Country will feature outdoor activities usually reserved for those rare Arkansas snow days: building snowmen, throwing snowballs (at targets!) and snow tubing.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring snow tubing to central Arkansas—there’s nothing else like it,” says Chris Shillcutt, Wild River Country’s General Manager and Vice President of Operations for the park’s management company, Aquapark.
Shillcutt says he and his wife Collette, the Assistant General Manager, wanted to keep the fun of Wild River Country alive even during the cold months. The couple lived in Atlanta for five years and got the idea to create a winter park from Stone Mountain Park, which has the annual Stone Mountain Christmas and Snow Mountain event in the winter.
“If they can do it Atlanta, we can do it here in Little Rock, Arkansas,” Shillcut says. “We thought, it’s our first year [running the park]—why not do something cool?”
With help from a snow machine, the seasonal winter park will be complete with a Snowball Alley, Polar Bear Playground, Cub Paw Raceway for the little ones and a fire pit for s’mores. The main attraction will be four to six lanes of snow tubing action on Tubin’ Ruben’s Slippery Slopes.
Additionally, the lodge will offer photo opportunities with Santa Claus, holiday and winter retail items and delicious treats. Holiday decorations, lights, music and guest appearances from Santa will take over the park from Nov. 22-Dec. 23.
General admission to the park will be $5.43 (includes Snowball Alley, Polar Bear Playground and Cub Paw Raceway), and $16.29 for a 90-minute unlimited tubing session on the Slippery Slopes.
Wild Winter Country’s tentative dates of operation are Nov. 22-March 31. Hours will be 5-9 p.m. Thu., 5-10 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat. and noon-7 p.m. Sun. Reservations for groups will be available 5-9 p.m. Tue. & Wed.
For more information, visit WildRiverCountry.com.