Jolley's Ranch in Hobble Creek Canyon has been owned by Springville City for more than 20 years, but until recently its winter fun capabilities could not be utilized by residents.

After several months of preparation, the 360-acre park was opened to the public on New Year's Eve with a host of snow activities. Residents can tube or sled for free, while cross country skiing and snowshoeing will cost a little more. Snowboarding and downhill skiing will not be allowed at the park, however.

"We kind of wanted to keep it more on the Nordic activities," said Alex Roylance, Springville director of buildings and grounds.

Roylance said the city has owned the park since 1982, and there was briefly a winter park until it closed for litigation reasons in 1983. Now while other similar parks are much farther north, like Sundance and Soldier Hollow, residents wanted something closer to home.

"There's been a lot of requests for being able to have recreation at our canyon parks," he said.

Kim Francom, canyon parks supervisor, said Jolley's Ranch was closed for several years with "No Trespassing" signs before it was opened seasonally for summer campers only a few years ago. Francom said he has enjoyed the benefits of state parks for many years and wanted the ranch to be usable.

"I took over the park a couple of years ago and just decided I didn't like "No Trespassing" signs," he said.

The park has been open in the summer with pavilions for camping, but then closed when September's cooler temperatures came along. Although residents had access to the ranch, Francom said there were many who wished to use it in the wintertime as well. Residents of Springville should have the right to access a park that is maintained by the city, he said.

"The people pay for these parks out of their taxes," Francom said. "To have these parks available year-round is a big benefit."

The park will benefit Springville in a variety of ways, Francom said. Residents will now have winter sports nearby, and Jolley's Ranch may also help attract new residents. The locale and quality of recreation facilities is a big factor in where people live, he said.

The addition of winter activity will also help residents get more use out of their taxes, Roylance said.

"It gives us a year-round use on what would normally be a seasonal park," he said. "It gives the citizens more bang for their buck."

While the park will bring in money through equipment rentals and season passes, Roylance said the city is not expecting to make a profit from the park's visitors. Just to break even on the venture would be satisfying enough.

"Right now, we're kind of just getting our feet wet," he said. "We want to see how high the interest is."

The park has only been open for a week, but Roylance said it has already seen 50 to 60 visitors a day. Most families prefer the tubing hill, but Roylance said he expects numbers to increase as other attractions become popular.

Several people have already bought season passes to the park, Francom said, and many residents were happy to see it open once again. Although the park has not been open long enough to gauge how many visitors it will have, Francom said he believes the investment will pay off quickly.

"I'm totally positive this is going to get bigger than we can even imagine," he said.