One glistening icicle, formed in the first freezing days of December, has grown an entire castle of ice.

The Midway Ice Castle, created by resident artist Brent Christensen, has returned to Heber Valley, once again enchanting visitors with its majestic towers, delicate bridges, frozen fountains, and even a stately ice throne.

After seeing dozens of photos of the icy wonderland flooding my social media newsfeeds, and having witnessed the beginning building process while staying in Midway early in December, I was eager to explore the frozen attraction.

While I had a basic idea of what I would find, I was stunned by the sheer size of the castle. Spanning across a full acre of land in the heart of Midway’s city center, the castle’s towers stretch into the winter sky, and continue to grow daily.

Donning his ice climbing gear, Dan walked us through the maze of paths pointing out different caverns and tunnels, educating us on the construction and icicle-growing process and filling our heads with wonderful facts about the glacial structure.

Pointing out the “icicle farm,” capable of growing 20,000 icicles at once, Dan explained how they transplant 5,000 to 6,000 icicles every morning from the farm to various places in the structure to further grow the maze of towers, bridges, and other formations.

The icy architecture of the building varies in its texture, from smooth-as-glass walls to popcorn-like blossoms of ice, from layers of vertical icicles to slick flower petal-like frozen waves.

The Ice Castle is very reminiscent of the natural formations found at our beloved national parks. As Dan confirmed, the inspiration for the maze-like castle was taken from the landscapes of natural wonders like Southern Utah’s slot canyons, the hoodoos of Goblin Valley and even the stalactites of neighboring Nevada’s Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park.

These beautiful and delicate formations are further enhanced through the use of multicolored LED lights that were frozen into the structure as it was being built. Rotating from glowing colors of red, blue and green, the intricacies of the giant sculpture are amplified, especially when touring the castle at night.

Some of the features within the castle walls include an ice throne, a popular waterfall, picture-perfect ice fountain, narrow canyons that are easily shimmied through thanks to the slick sidewalls and caves perfect for children to crawl in. And of course there is a snowman who bears a striking and fitting resemblance to Olaf, the jokester snowman from Disney’s latest animated musical “Frozen.”

The newest feature, just unveiled this week, is the ice slide. Climb through a tunnel and then slide down the enclosed tube of ice. “It’s still a bit rough,” Dan said, “but gets smoother with every slider.”

As the structure has grown, so have the archways that stretch across the different corridors. I was particularly impressed with the curtain of icy stalactites that delicately hang down from a few of those arches.

Walking along the pathway proved to be a bit of a challenge at times. There were some points along the way that were a bit slick, as expected, but then there were areas that felt like you were trudging through thick, frozen bits of sand — an interesting sensation.

The Midway Ice Castle has become a popular set for photo shoots, bridal and engagement sessions, music videos and even for location shoots for larger film productions. In fact, the castle will be closed on Thursday for one of those filming sessions.

It was a stunning moment when our group encountered a beautiful “ice princess,” dressed in her wedding gown, being photographed for her bridal photos. I couldn’t resist snapping my own photo of the photographers at work and the bride-to-be posing amid the blue-lit ice.

Midway’s Ice Castle will be open at least through February, weather permitting, so wrap up the family in their warmest winter gear, including boots, grab your camera and let the icy adventure begin.

Midway Ice Castle

WHERE: 150 E. 100 North, Midway

WHEN: 2-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday.

COST: $9 General Admission and $6 for children ages 4-11 on Tuesday-Thursday, $10 and $7 for children on Friday-Saturday, $8 and $5 for children. Season pass is $25.

INFO: www.icecastles.com

TIPS: Be sure to dress warm — hats, gloves, parkas. Even if the sun in shining, the castle is made of ice and it’s cold! I also recommend a good pair of boots to help navigate the different pathways that vary from icy and slick to sand-like deep drifts.