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Young skaters enjoy ice time at the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo.

Courtesy Provo Parks and Recreation

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Provo Parks and Recreation offers exercise classes at the Provo Recreation Center.

Courtesy Provo Parks and Recreation

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Young basketball players enjoy a game at the Orem Family Fitness Center.

Courtesy Orem Recreation

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Provo Park and Recreation offers ballet classes at the Covey Center.

Courtesy Provo Parks and Recreation

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Adults play a game of volleyball at the Orem Family Fitness Center.

Courtesy Orem Recreation

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Fall brings the changing of the leaves and lower temperatures that send Utah Valley residents inside.

At times like these, it’s good to be the Orem Family Fitness Center.

For active Orem residents, winter is no time to stop being active.

Bryce Merrill is the facilities recreation director.

“Kids and families are looking to stay just as busy and active once the weather turns cold,” Merrill said.

While New Year’s resolutions often inspire folks to get back in the gym in the winter, Merrill said an increase in usage is much more correlated to Daylight Savings Time in November.

“As the sunlight hours diminish, we have Junior Jazz for the youth, adult basketball leagues and volleyball leagues, those sports dominate the winter season,” Merrill said. “We have such awesome programs for Orem residents. We’ve actually added an outdoor lighted turf field to Lakeside Park last May. We the equipment to plow snow. We’ve seen an increase of signups for local soccer and those who want to play in Turkey Bowls on Thanksgiving. It’s fun to see the outdoor season extended into November and December.”

One of the ways Orem Rec has increased opportunities for indoor activities is at Hillcrest Park, where they have repurposed an old elementary school into a community center.

“We have outdoor lighted pickleball and a playground with a small field there, but there is also an attached indoor facility and gym,” Merrill said. “It has a game room with ping pong, pool tables and video games. There is no membership fee required for the game room. A lot of kids come over in the afternoon after school. It has a fun patio and has become a really popular hangout. Attendance at that park has skyrocketed. We had 375,000 visitors at that park last year.”

Merrill said the partnership with the Utah Jazz for the Junior Jazz brings in about 800 children each winter, which is comparable to the Orem Youth Soccer program in the summer and fall.

The Orem Family Fitness Center has 20,000 members and received just under one million visits last year.

“We want families to come,” Merrill said. “We’re geared up for it. We love bringing people indoors and keeping everyone healthy and happy.”

The Provo Rec Center has 23,000 members year round and Doug Robins, head of Provo Parks and Rec, said the place where they see a bit of spike in the winter is at the Peaks Ice Arena.

“We have an open skate program that has 63,000 participants and is really popular,” Robins said. “Ice time is quite valuable over there. We also have adult and youth basketball and wrestling programs. We partner with the Provo School District to use their gyms. We have 170 different fitness classes each week and aquatics go all year round with swim instruction and water aerobics.”

Memberships at local rec centers range from $150-$350 at each location for a yearly pass.

Both Provo and Orem have strong senior winter activity programs as well.

“Senior programs used to be a certain thing, but now seniors don’t want to be identified as seniors,” Robins said. “They want to be active in recreation and set their own pace.”