Comments are due October 29, 2026, midnight ET.
The Dixie National Forest is taking public comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Brian Head Resort Expansion. The resort wants to add about 1,651 acres to its special use permit, which would take it from roughly 887 acres to more than 2,500. The plan includes new lifts, new ski terrain, snowmaking, about 15 miles of new and improved administrative roads, and up to 13 miles of new utilities. It would also reroute about five miles of an existing snowmobile trail through Brian Head Town to make room for ski runs in the new Navajo Ridge to Dry Lakes Pod.
The DEIS looks at a No Action alternative plus three action alternatives. Alternatives 2 and 3 both include the Dry Lakes Pod and the snowmobile reroute. Alternative 4 removes the Dry Lakes Pod from the project entirely, which makes it the only alternative that keeps snowmobile access to the backcountry that private riders and outfitters use today.
What's at stake
The snowmobile route through the Dry Lakes area is the only way for riders to reach the backcountry beyond Brian Head. Alternatives 2 and 3 would break that connection.
The route carries a lot of traffic. A local snowmobile business runs up to 100 machines a day, and private riders add about 50 more, for up to 150 snowmobiles a day.
The Forest Service's proposed fix is to reroute riders through Brian Head Town, but that doesn't replace the route. Sending that many snowmobiles through town every day means crossing nine roads. That's unsafe for riders, drivers, and pedestrians, and it still doesn't reach the backcountry.
Trailering to Cedar Breaks National Monument has also been suggested, and it doesn't work either. There aren't parking lots there that can handle trucks and trailers.
As written, Alternatives 2 and 3 don't just move the snowmobile route. They cut off snowmobile access as riders know it today and could put local guiding operations out of business.
The new roads add to the loss. The DEIS would designate all of the project's new and improved roads as administrative routes that are closed to the public year-round. The Forest Service says the snowmobile corridor will stay open to ATVs in the summer, but nothing stops it from being closed later. If that happened, a winter closure would become a year-round one.
What BRC is asking for
BRC is asking the Forest Service to add an alternative with a snowmobile reroute that reaches the Dry Lakes area without going through town, so current snowmobile use can continue. Alternative 4, which drops the Dry Lakes Pod, would also protect this access.
Resort growth and snowmobile access can coexist, but only if the route is planned into the project now and not left to be worked out later.
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