Snowmobilers About To Pay More To Ride Wyoming’s Premier Trials

The go-to throttle therapy for snowmobilers in the Sheridan, Wyoming, area is the Red Grade Road trail.

Climbing to 9,000 feet through snow-laden forests of lodgepole and spruce, it offers sledders exposure to wildlife along with pristine vistas of glacier-carved canyons and the jagged spine of Bighorn Mountains down to the Cloud Peak wilderness area in the south.

But the cost of riding winter trails like Red Grade Road may soon increase across all of Wyoming.

The Wyoming Legislature passed House Bill 4 this week, which lifts the annual registration fee for instate snowmobilers from $35 to $50; it would hike the cost for commercial snowmobile registration from $105 to $150; and it would raise the fee on non-resident from $35 to $70 while creating a new registration class for “antique snowmobiles,” or machines over 20 years used for parades, exhibitions or tours, charging a one-time $25 registration fee.

The bill comes in response to the growing cost of winter trail maintenance. From the Black Hills to the Snowy Range and on to the Continental Divide, increased operation costs have pushed Wyoming’s parks department into a $400,000 budget shortfall trying to keep winter trails up to snuff.

“We’re at a crossroads right now. We either reduce services” like shelters and signage and groomed trails, “or we get a fee increase,” Dave Glenn, agency director of Wyoming State Parks, told the House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee during a hearing in January. 

The Wyoming Senate passed the bill back to the House on Tuesday, which gave it a final OK and headed for Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk to be signed into law.

Wyoming’s Snowmobile Sector Is Zooming

The proposed legislation comes as the sector is ripping into high gear. Snowmobiling is a $255 million dollar industry in the state, driven largely by non-resident tourism, according to a 2022 study from University of Wyoming.

It doesn’t show signs of slowing down. 

“Driving through Dubois through the middle of winter, there’s nothing but Minnesota trucks and trailers. They’re keeping that town alive during the wintertime, Glenn told the Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee on Feb 13.

Snowmobile tourism is a big piece of Wyoming's wider outdoor recreation industry, which is readily outpacing the state’s overall economic growth. From 2017 to 2021, Wyoming’s outdoor recreation sector grew by 4.1%, the third fastest increase of any U.S. state, according to a 2023 study from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

What's surprising is how the snowmobile industry has generated steady economic gains despite a decades-long plateau in registrations. This is the result of users spending more money on equipment, services and stays.

Since plateauing in the early 2000s, registrations have averaged between 31,000 and 38,000 annually, Wyoming State Trails Manager Forrest Kaminga told the Cowboy State Daily. The majority of those registrations, close to two-thirds, are held by non-residents, many of whom consider Wyoming sledding second to none.

“We see a lot of storm chasers. They see a good snowstorm in the forecast… they jump in their trucks, and they don't think anything of driving 24 hours straight to get to the good get powder Wyoming has to offer,” Kaminga said.

Compare this to another big snowmobile state, Idaho, who in 2024 registered 22,000 resident snowmobiles, but only 15,000 non-resident snowmobiles, according to a report from the Wyoming Legislative Services Office.

Best Groomed Trails In The West

It's more than good powder that brings snowmobile tourism to Wyoming.

Kaminga’s team manages close to 2,600 miles of winter trails, whose diligent upkeep along with robust signage and safety accommodations have earned the state a stunningly high user rating. Around 91% of residents and 97% of non-residents said they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with their Wyoming snowmobiling experience, according to a 2021 survey from the University of Wyoming’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Jeff Shanor, co-owner of Sheridan-based Sled Wyo, said Wyoming is among the best spots to snowmobile in North America.

“Wyoming has some of the best groom trails in the west. I've ridden in Canada, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming is definitely up there for some of the best maintained trails,” he told the Cowboy State Daily. 

But unless the department can raise more revenue, that standard will soon fall.

Costs On The Rise

All said and done, the Wyoming Parks Department grooms around 90,000 miles of winter trails each year, much of which is contracted out to private operators at a significantly growing expense.

In 2014, the state paid $17 per mile for grooming services. Today it costs $31 per mile. Relatedly, the cost of a snowcat in 2014 was $195,000. A month ago the department purchased a new snowcat for $305,000.

From the Black Hills to the Snowy Range to the Continental Divide, the department is operating with a $400,000 budget shortfall trying to keep those trails up to snuff, and they can’t do it much longer.

Strong Sledder Support

Fee hikes are rarely cherished, but this proposal has resounding support from Wyoming’s snowmobile community. 

Brenda Miller, president of the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association, told the committee that snowmobilers welcome the increase. It has strong support because of its user-fee structure, which ties registration revenue directly to snowmobile programs like trail maintenance, meaning “snowmobilers get back what we put in,” Miller said. 

“The cost of doing business is more expensive and we don’t want to face the possibility of decreased services for the snowmobile community,” she said.

Shanor seconded this sentiment. 

“We have some of the cheapest fees for the year. Some places in Canada, they're paying $30 a day per trailhead, where we pay $35 for the entire year for the entire state,” he said. “So I think this makes sense.”