Kelly Canyon now charges cross country skiers, snowshoers for facilities

Kelly Canyon Ski Resort is resorting to some big changes this year.

Cross-country skiers and snowshoers will now have to pay a fee, and some people aren’t too happy about it. The fee has caused some confusion.

Because so many people come to cross country ski or snowshoe near Kelly, the resort is charging a fee to park in their lot.

But the fee covers more than just parking; it also covers grooming, insurance and use of the resort’s facilities.

“Really we’re just trying to charge the minimum amount to get our expenses back, so everyone comes out a winner, I hope, that’s the plan,” said resort owner Neil Brown. “There’s not chance of making a profit doing this, but we would like to cover some of our expenses.”

Some cross-country skiers are not happy about a new fee they have to pay.
The fee is part of an agreement between Kelly Canyon, the Idaho Falls Ski Club and the Forest Service.

Nordic skiers and snowshoers have been parking in the Kelly Canyon lot to recreate in the Targhee National Forest, but they’re taking parking away from paying customers.

“There’s a certain amount of things that we do that we just felt like it was fair to charge a little bit, and we’re trying to keep it as reasonable as we can,” said Brown.

When it comes to plowing the public road, Brown said the the county is great to work with, but they can’t make it out as much as the resort and skiers need them to.

And that isn’t the only factor that played into this fee. Brown said insurance did too.

“We needed to make a change with what was going on here because although they were volunteers and they were trying to do the best they could, they could not qualify for insurance because they didn’t have a special use permit,” Brown said.

He said this fee is the best option the resort had.

“I just want everybody to realize that we trying to do this to make it good for everyone. We like cross-country skiers, we want them to have fun here too,” said Brown.