The concept for Ice Castles was created when founder and Utah resident Brent Christensen attempted to build an ice cave for his daughter in the yard of his home in Alpine, Utah. The project turned into a winter hit drawing crowds of locals to visit and tour his creation. Ice Castles has since turned into an internationally renowned tourist attraction with six locations across North America and growing.
The Utah location is now open at 700 Homestead Dr, Midway, UT 84049. Tickets start at $9.99 and are available in advance aticecastles.com.
Brent joined us and told us he hopes the ice castles bring joy to his kids and give them something fun to do outside in winter.
The entire experience is created by hand - using up to 12,000 icicles they grow and harvest, then they hand-place and spray them with water to create the acre-sized attraction. It takes about two months to assemble the Ice Castles attraction.
This year, Ice Castles includes slides, crawl spaces, fountains, thrones, slot canyons, and tunnels all built from ice. LED lights frozen inside the ice light up and twinkle to music adding a magical ambiance to the breathtaking interactive sculptures. All Ice Castles sites are located next to a natural water source so the water returns directly to the environment to be used again by wildlife, people and plants in Spring.
Tips for visiting: Dress in warm layers and snow boots; pull young kids on sleds instead of using strollers.
