Expansion project begins at Blacktail Recreation Area

Bonneville County’s busiest recreation area is adding a boat ramp.

There is good news for avid boaters tired of the long lines at Blacktail Recreation Area just to get their boats into the water.

“This will be the first phase of a two-year project that will expand the parking area and also provide another boat ramp making a good facility even better,” Bonneville County Commissioner — Roger Christensen said.

It will be a welcome addition for boaters such as Ken Martin, who likes to get out on Ririe Reservoir every chance he gets.

“In the summer on the weekends this place is crazy with all the people lined up and that’s going to help a ton,” Martin said.

It’s about a half-million-dollar project and most of it is not funded by taxpayers.

“We got a grant and 54 percent of the money comes from the grant,” Christensen said. “Part of the local funding comes from the people who pay to use the park. We’ve made the decision to take that and invest it back into improving the facility.”

Its proximity to the city makes Blacktail a popular getaway for boaters like Martin.

“Oh, we absolutely love this,” Martin said. “It’s a beautiful lake and it’s easy to get to — close to town. It’s really nice.”

When this project is complete and Martin comes back here during the peak of the summer season, he won’t have to wait as long to get his boat in the water.

On busy summer weekends they have had to turn people away from Blacktail when the parking lot was full. That shouldn’t happen nearly as often with this new expansion.