Last WHAT of February and spring is on the way (hopefully)! We took time to explore Sylvan Hill before all the snow left.
Sylvan Hill (at 1329 Sylvan Street) was created in 1964 after the land was sold to the city by Ted Will, who had moved to California. The design included a ski hill and a sledding/toboggan hill. Duane Corbin of the parks department had put forth the idea of the park as his concerns of the affordability of skiing at Rib Mountain increased.
It was too expensive to hire professional ski hill designers. Community help got it done, including Marathon Electric donating tow motors, and Carmie Oliva (owner of Rib Mountain Ski Hill) helped with donation of ski equipment. Spike Berg led the development of the Sylvan Hill Ski School.
The park includes an open shelter that was originally used for the bus hub. And the large shelter, which opened in 1971, which was a kitchen at Marathon Park. Each structure was dismantled and rebuilt at Sylvan Hill.
In 1972 land from the Zulawink family was purchased and the park grew. In the early 2000s the park again grew with land along the creek.
As the expense of running a ski hill, and insurance and state rules became more strict, the decision was made in 2003 to change from skiing to tubing. Today the park has two tubing hills, with a total of six runs.
Most recently a series of single track, off road bike trails has been added.
The park is also home to many animals, including deer, fox, muskrats, herons and many other birds.
