Another season of bundling up and riding on a horse-drawn sleigh or wagon through the middle of hundreds of wild elk is almost here! The Hardware Wildlife Management Area winter season and associated activities — including some new opportunities this year — begin on Dec. 6.

Rides through the elk herd

Haviland’s Old West Adventures has contracted with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to offer horse-drawn sleigh or wagon rides on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Dec. 6 to Feb. 9. Rides start at 10 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. each day. Each ride lasts about 45 minutes.

The fee to go on a ride is $10 for those 9 years of age or older and $4 for those 4 to 8 years old. Those 3 years of age or younger ride for free. Tickets are only sold at the Hardware Wildlife Education Center, and you must buy them in-person on the day of your ride. The Hardware Wildlife Education Center closes at 4 p.m. so tickets must be purchased before then. Tickets are not available online.

Before or after your ride, you can also buy food from a food trailer near the sleigh ride line.

Those with a group of 25 or more can also reserve a group sleigh ride for Wednesday afternoons. Call 435-744-3229 to reserve the group ride.

Santa’s Workshop

New this year, “Santa’s Workshop” will be offered Dec. 7, 14 and 21. The workshop includes a waffle breakfast or lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, a bag filled with swag and a chance to make holiday ornaments before riding through the elk herd. The cost, which includes the sleigh ride, is $40 for those 3 years of age and older. Those 2 or younger are free. You can reserve a spot by calling 480-540-3499.

Activities and displays at the WMA

In addition to riding through the middle of hundreds of elk, you can spend time warming up and learning more about elk in the Hardware Wildlife Education Center. An “All About Elk” exhibit will be available to tour in the center during the winter season.

Fun activities for families will also be held in the center at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Each program runs about 30 minutes.

“Making habitat ornaments using sagebrush, bitterbrush and other plants found at the WMA is a fun and popular activity,” DWR Hardware Wildlife Education Center Director Marni Lee said. “We’ll make the ornaments in December.”

Visiting the center and participating in the indoor activities is free.

Brucellosis concerns

The elk that visitors to Hardware WMA will see this winter have been known to migrate long distances. Elk at the Hardware WMA that have received GPS collars have traveled as far as Montpelier, Idaho and Cokeville, Wyoming.

However, the farther north the elk migrate, the greater the chance they'll contract brucellosis and bring it back to Utah. While the disease has not yet been detected in elk in Utah, brucellosis is affecting elk and bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Brucellosis in cattle, elk and bison is caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus. The disease causes abortions and low fertility rates in animals that contract it. Animals contract the disease when they come in contact with an aborted, infected fetus or contaminated birth fluids. In elk, the risk for abortions is highest from February through June.

“Ending the viewing and feeding season in early February should cause the elk to disperse at exactly the time when cow elk that might have the disease start aborting their fetuses,” DWR Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Christensen said. “Getting the elk away from each other should greatly reduce the chance that the elk contract the disease.”

You can reach the Hardware WMA by traveling 16 miles east of Hyrum on state Route 101. You’ll drive through scenic Blacksmith Fork Canyon on your way to the WMA.

For more information, visit the DWR website. You can also call the WMA at 435-753-6206 or email Lee at marnilee@utah.gov.