HYRUM, Utah — Winter sleigh rides through herds of wild elk will return to Hardware Wildlife Management Area starting Dec. 5, with an expanded schedule this year that adds five weekdays in late December.

Haviland’s Old West Adventures will operate horse-drawn sleigh or wagon rides on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Feb. 15. New this year, rides will also be available Dec. 22-23 and Dec. 29-31, giving visitors more options during the holiday season.

The 45-minute rides run from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12.50 for ages 9 and older, $5 for ages 4-8, and are free for children 3 and younger. Tickets must be purchased in person at the Hardware Wildlife Education Center on the day of the ride.

The Division of Wildlife Resources will also offer family-focused activities inside the education center on days it is open for sleigh rides, like Christmas ornament making in December.

“Making Christmas ornaments using sagebrush, bitterbrush and other plants found at the WMA is a fun and popular activity each winter,” said Marni Lee, director of the Hardware Wildlife Education Center.

The education center will also feature an “All About Elk” exhibit, and all indoor activities are free. A food trailer will be available near the sleigh ride line.

The DWR has decided to end the season in early February rather than later in winter due to brucellosis concerns. The disease, which causes abortions and low fertility in elk and bison, has not been detected in Utah elk but affects herds in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

“Congregating many animals in one area during the high-risk period (of February through June) increases the risk that elk will contract the disease,” DWR Northern Region Wildlife Manager Jim Christensen said. “The prevalence of brucellosis in elk wintering on feeding grounds in Wyoming is much higher than it is among elk wintering outside the feeding grounds.”

Christensen said ending the viewing and feeding season at Hardware Ranch in early February should cause the elk to disperse before the high-risk period of February-June, which will reduce the risk of other elk contracting the disease.

Hardware WMA is located 16 miles east of Hyrum on State Route 101 in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. For more information, call 435-753-6206 or email marnilee@utah.gov.

Portions of this article were formatted using claude.ai and subsequently edited and fact checked by staff writer Amanda Goddard.