Outdoor notes

Fantasy at Willard Bay

WILLARD — Willard Bay State Park hosts Fantasy at the Bay, a drive-through holiday light display that opened this week and runs through Dec. 31.

Display hours are 5:30-9:30 p.m. nightly and admission is $7 per vehicle. Utah State Parks annual passes are not valid during light-display hours.

The Cottonwood Campground is filled with animation, lighted trees, roadway lights and displays. Visitors may drive through the display or ride on a horse-drawn hay wagon at no additional cost. A concession service offers food items around a large campfire.

To reach Willard Bay State Park, take Exit 357 off I-15. For more information, call Fantasy at the Bay at 435-734-9294 or 435-237-9506 or Willard Bay State Park at 435-734-9494.

Cougar hunt under way

Utah's annual cougar hunting season got under way last week, and even those who you didn't obtain a limited-entry permit for the hunt can still participate.

Permits to hunt on harvest-objective units are available at the DWR's offices, at the DWR's Web site (www.wildlife.utah.gov) and from hunting license agents across Utah.

Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says there are three major differences between harvest-objective units and traditional limited-entry units.

"There is no limit on the number of permits we can sell for a harvest-objective unit. And you can buy harvest-objective permits on the Internet or over-the-counter," Tutorow says. "The hunt on a harvest-objective unit can close before the season ends, however, if hunters take the number of cougars biologists want taken," she says.

Before each hunting trip, hunters must call 1-888-668-LION (5466), or visit the DWR's Web site, to verify that the unit they'd like to hunt the next day is still open to hunting. The phone line and the Web site are updated by noon with information for the following day.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at 801-538-4700.

Youth snowmobile course

The Utah State Parks Department's "Know Before You Go!" youth snowmobile education course is now available online at stateparks.utah.gov.