Sleepy Hollow park will be home to what could be the largest year-round tubing hill in the US

Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register
·5 min read

Some winter sports may not be exclusive to wintertime anymore — at least not in Des Moines.

Des Moines residents will get to snowboard, ski and tube almost year-round at a new tubing hill coming to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park on the city's east side. The estimated $1.7 million project, which will use synthetic turf and have a tube conveyor belt, is part of the first phase in a series of upgrades coming to the park.

When installed, the roughly 600-foot run will likely be the largest year-round tubing hill in the nation, according to Polk County Conservation Board officials who are overseeing the project. The tubing hill is estimated to open July 4, 2023, according to leisure services manager Jeff Condon.

The 76-acre Sleepy Hollow park has been a central Iowa favorite for tubing and sledding in the winter and for Renaissance fairs, festivals, comedy shows and concerts in the summer. Each fall, Sleepy Hollow's Renaissance Faire Park turns into a Halloween attraction and the surrounding forest becomes a haunted trail. Taylor Swift even performed there early in her career.

Rick and Mary Flatt, who owned the park for more than three decades, sold the facility to the conservation board last September for about $3.5 million. The couple still continues to operate the Renaissance fair Spooky Hollow and camping for the Iowa State Fair through a contractual relationship with the conservation board.

The Flatts closed parts of the snow park starting in winter 2017, Condon said. Other parts closed the next year and the park has remained closed for the winters since, he said. The slopes will not reopen for the 2022-23 winter season for repairs and maintenance.

When it was open, it had multiple groomed, 1,000-foot tubing and sledding runs to slide down at the park. Visitors could rent gear and use chair and rope lifts to access both easy and difficult slopes.

'Our goal is to include everybody'

Lown said the county is ready to bring it back in a fresh way.

"We want to make sure that this property is utilized as much as possible and so we started thinking how can we make sure that this park, which has previously only has a reputation for only being a cold weather park … is used more weeks of the year," Lown said.

Condon said the slope is meant to expand winter sports to first-timers and inexperienced users. Ski areas are not always great at retention because people can often be intimidated by the sport, he said.

"Our goal is to include everybody and create skiers, snowboarders, winter enthusiasts and then they can go on from here to the Rockies," Condon said. "We're not going to hold the next Olympics here, but hopefully, we might create an Olympian."

The first phase's $1.7 million will be paid for with the voter-approved Polk County Water & Land Legacy Bond, which funds water quality projects, parks and trails. The funds will be used to resurface the existing tubing hill with Snowflex, a synthetic turf.

Des Moines residents will get to snowboard, ski and tube almost year-round at a new tubing hill coming to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park on the city's east side. The estimated $1.7 million project, which will use synthetic turf called Snowflex and have a tube conveyor belt, is the first phase in a series of upgrades coming to the park.
Des Moines residents will get to snowboard, ski and tube almost year-round at a new tubing hill coming to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park on the city's east side. The estimated $1.7 million project, which will use synthetic turf called Snowflex and have a tube conveyor belt, is the first phase in a series of upgrades coming to the park.

Officials are projecting the change could turn tubing into a 44-week season from the former 16-week season. The off-seasons will allow park employees to prepare the turf for summer and winter use, as well as for routine maintenance.

More:Central Iowa favorite Sleepy Hollow to become a Polk County park

Take that Branson, Missouri

Once installed, the Sleep Hollow tubing turf is projected to be about 200 feet longer than the current largest tubing turf in the U.S., located in Branson, Missouri, Condon told the Polk County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.

Funding also will cover a conveyor carpet lift, which will serve as an escalator to get up the hill, 200 snow tubes and maintenance equipment, according to Condon.

Lown said the initial estimates show the board could earn $550,000 in revenue from the slope in its first year.

During the warm weather months, the turf's water misting system will allow people to tube, ski and snowboard on the hill, though board members are looking at how to accommodate the activities separately for safety. In its first winter season, in 2023-24, the hill will be limited to tubing. The water misting system will be turned off, and park employees will push snow over the top of the turf to give users an authentic experience, Condon said.

Lown said the board aims to open the remaining slopes for skiing and snowboarding by the winter of 2024-25 at the earliest because they're still working out maintenance on ski lifts and snowmaking equipment, and still learning about the park property.

Des Moines residents will get to snowboard, ski and tube almost year-round at a new tubing hill coming to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park on the city's east side. The estimated $1.7 million project, which will use synthetic turf called Snowflex and have a tube conveyor belt, is the first phase in a series of upgrades coming to the park.
Des Moines residents will get to snowboard, ski and tube almost year-round at a new tubing hill coming to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park on the city's east side. The estimated $1.7 million project, which will use synthetic turf called Snowflex and have a tube conveyor belt, is the first phase in a series of upgrades coming to the park.

What's next for Sleepy Hollow?

Details on the second phase of construction are still being worked out. Beyond revamping the ski slopes, Lown said the conservation board has tossed around ideas for renovations and facility-improvement projects such as:

  • Developing a full-service campground with 60 camping spots and expanding current electric facilities, including for Iowa State Fair campers, and developing tent camping amenities like a shower house, restroom building and registration booth.

  • Making interior and exterior improvements to the existing Ski Lodge, including Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades.

  • Adding new cross-country ski and snowshoe trails and, possibly, downhill ski trails.

  • Improving access to the park's existing pond and enhancing fisheries for public fishing and other programs.

  • Converting the pond to an ice skating rink during winter.

  • Connecting Sleepy Hollow with the Gay Lea Wilson Trail, providing safe routes to downtown Des Moines, Pleasant Hill and Altoona.

  • Expanding existing hiking trails.

  • Staging Central Iowa Water Trails kayak access.

  • Restoring banks on Fourmile Creek to prevent erosion and improve water quality.

Lown said future plans for the park are "wide open" and will depend on what the community wants to see.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified when Sleepy Hollow closed for the winter seasons.

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: A year-round, record-setting tubing hill is coming to Des Moines