Kids Can Ride Sleds on Real Snow at Knott’s

Want to take the little ones sledding in sunny Orange County? You can at Knott’s Berry Farm, and that’s no snow job.

For the 17th year running, the Buena Park theme park will create a 15-foot-high mound of snow (affectionately dubbed Beagle Hill) as part of its Snoopy’s Winter Wonderland holiday promotion. With the help of a snow-making machine, kids 3 to 11 can experience the heart-pounding thrill of racing headlong down a wintry slope. Well, sort of.

“It’s kind of tame,” acknowledged Knott’s spokesperson Dana Hammontree, who added that Knott’s provides the plastic sleds. “But the kids just love it.”

To keep the slush factor at a minimum, the snow hill will be covered by a tent to protect it from the sun, and new snow will be applied regularly. Beagle Hill will open Friday and remain open through Jan. 5.

And how will Knott’s dispose of several tons of snow once the holiday promotion is through?

“It melts,” said Hammontree, who added that brooms, shovels and hay bales will be employed to keep the mountain from flooding the midway.

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Marla Dickerson covers tourism for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5670 and at marla.dickerson@latimes.com