Red Lodge Resort Access Summary

In November 2020, a member reached out to PLWA regarding easement utilization at Red Lodge Resort in Carbon County, Montana.

Recently Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort announced a decision to start charging hikers $20/day to access Grizzly Peak. This decision is problematic due to the existence of a public easement through the base area which was created as a contingency of a land swap with the forest service several years ago. Forest Service Trail #108 represents a public easement, negating the ability for the resort to charge for access.

PLWA’s constituent raised the access complaint due to the fact that he felt it didn’t “seem right or legal that they should be monetizing that access. RLM has effectively reframed public access as a privilege when, in fact, it is a right predating RLM's existence and guaranteed by the terms of their own land exchange. There is concern that if they are able to curb public use enough, they could establish the precedent necessary to get rid of the easement entirely.”

In December 2020, PLWA President Bernard Lea undertook the research to examine the issue, reaching out to the Forest Service for clarification on their position of a private entity charging the public for access to their public lands. You can read his letter here.

UPDATE: December, 2022

PLWA reviewed additional documents and reached out to local FS authorities to discuss the fee the resort is charging for uphill travel. It seems the practice is becoming more common across the West in an attempt to track and manage growing use of ski areas. It was explained that, although the public can travel uphill on the easement/established trail (over alternating private and public land), once someone reaches the top of the mountain, the only way back down is on the groomed trail/resort property. 

It seems it is within the special use permit for the resort to charge a fee because of the necessary use of ski resources (i.e. groomed trails) to get back downhill without crossing private property.

UPDATE: February, 2021

USFS District Ranger Ken Coffin responds to Bernard Lea’s December letter, yet does not satisfactorily address the legal implications of the easement. Mr. Coffin represents that there are hazards caused by Red Lodge Ski Resorts parking lot maintenance and snow making equipment which affect traffic, but rather than changing or halting traffic, offers a solution of charging a fee for traffic which is allowed to continue. This contradictory solution does not address the illegality of the fee charging or public safety. You can read Mr. Coffin’s letter to PLWA here.

UPDATE: March, 2021

PLWA President Bernard Lea responds to Mr. Coffin with a letter detailing the continued concerns of public access users and our organization, asking for further clarification on the fees being levied to utilize Forest Service Trail #108. Read our letter here. We await a response from the Forest Service.