Beaver Mountain
Top of Logan Canyon 828 acres, 48 runs, one family since the late 1930s
Beaver Mountain is the valley's home hill and its history is the good part. The Seeholzer family put a rope tow on this ground in 1939, Harold Seeholzer, everyone called him Harry, took over operating it in the 1940s, his son Ted ran it for decades and bought the company outright in 1997, and Ted's son Travis runs the mountain today. The resort's own claim, worth attributing rather than swallowing whole, is that it is the longest continuously family-run ski area in the United States. Either way it is rare: a real destination-size mountain that has never changed families or chased a corporate pass network.
The mountain itself is bigger than its low profile suggests: about 828 skiable acres, 48 runs split roughly a third beginner, forty percent intermediate and a quarter advanced, and 1,700 feet of vertical to a summit near 8,860 feet at the top of Harry's Dream. Four fixed-grip chairlifts do the work, Marge's Triple, Harry's Dream, Little Beaver and the weekend-only Beaver's Face double, backed by two surface conveyors for beginners. There is no fast detachable lift and not much snowmaking; what there is instead is snow, more than 400 inches in an average year, and short lift lines. It skis like a locals' mountain because it is one.
The details
Getting there
One road: US-89 east out of Logan and up the canyon, past the reservoir and the campgrounds, to the resort turn near the top. It is a beautiful drive and a serious winter one. For the canyon itself, its byway history and stops, see the Logan Canyon guide.
Before you go
- The mountain relies on natural snow, so early and late season are hit or miss; read the report before you drive up rather than assuming a calendar date.
- Night skiing here is mostly private events, with only limited public nights on the Little Beaver lift, and a season pass does not cover it; if you want lit runs on a weeknight, Cherry Peak is the plan.
- Season passes are cheapest early and rise as winter approaches; the resort lists 780 dollars for new adults and 625 for renewals for 2026-27, with youth, senior and student options well below that.
Cherry Peak Resort
East of Richmond the valley's newer, smaller hill, with night skiing the specialty
Cherry Peak is the young one. It opened to the public in December 2015, developed by John Chadwick in Cherry Canyon about three and a half miles east of Richmond, and it was one of the first all-new Utah ski areas in a generation. It is small and it knows it: the vertical is 1,265 feet from a base near 5,775 to a summit around 7,050, served by three chairlifts, Gateway, Vista and Summit, and its acreage and run count depend on who is counting, with sources ranging from roughly 200 acres and 29 runs to about 400 acres and 38. What is not in dispute is the price and the personality: it bills itself as the best value in Utah skiing, and for a north-valley family or a Utah State student it is the closest snow.
The real draw is the lights. Cherry Peak lights most of its terrain for night skiing, roughly 5 to 9 pm, and an adult night ticket is 28 dollars against 55 for a full day; that is the difference between a resort you visit and one you drop into after work. It also runs a terrain park, snowmaking, snow tubing, and a summer concert series that fills the base in July through September. One honest note for planners: the lodge and operation were listed for sale in July 2026 at 22.5 million dollars, and the ownership said the resort keeps running through the sale, calling it a next chapter rather than a closure. If ownership matters to your season, confirm it with the resort.
The details
Getting there
North from Logan on US-91 to Richmond, then east on the county road up to the resort at 3200 E 11000 N. The last stretch is a canyon road that wants winter tires in a storm, but it is far shorter and gentler than the Logan Canyon climb to Beaver Mountain. Richmond has its own town guide.
Before you go
- Night is the value play: a 28 dollar evening ticket and a five-pack at 99 make this the cheapest lit skiing in the region, and Monday family nights run cheaper still.
- The mountain-stats numbers disagree across sources; the vertical of 1,265 feet is consistent, but treat acreage and run counts as approximate and check the resort for the current map.
- It is a beginner and intermediate hill first; strong skiers will lap it out in a day, which is exactly why it works as an after-work and learn-to-ski mountain rather than a destination.
The Nordic trails and the backcountry
Around the valley free groomed tracks, and real avalanche terrain above the canyon
The best winter deal in Cache Valley costs nothing. A local nonprofit, Nordic United, works with the Forest Service to groom classic and skate tracks two to three days a week from about December to March, and the trails are free to use. The regulars are Green Canyon, east of North Logan with a plowed trailhead and a gentle out-and-back climb, Smithfield Canyon a few miles north, and Beaver Bottoms up near the ski area, where the snow is deepest and lasts longest. Bring your own gear or rent in town; there is no ticket window, and donations are what keep the grooming running.
Higher and wilder, the top of Logan Canyon opens into big country. The Franklin Basin road is closed to cars in winter and groomed for skiers and snowmobiles, a plowed trailhead and miles of rolling snow, and the Sinks and the Tony Grove area draw ski tourers looking for turns. This is where the tone changes: the Bear River Range is avalanche terrain, and people are caught in it. The Utah Avalanche Center issues a Logan-zone forecast every winter morning, and it is not optional reading. If you are new to touring, hire a guide or take an avalanche course before you leave the groomed tracks; the mountains here are generous and they do not grade on effort.
The details
Getting there
Green Canyon is a short drive east of North Logan to a plowed lot; Smithfield Canyon is off US-91 to the north. Franklin Basin and the upper-canyon trailheads are up US-89 past Beaver Mountain, plowed but remote. Check the grooming report and the avalanche forecast the morning you go.
Before you go
- The groomed Nordic trails are shared and family-friendly; the backcountry above the canyon is neither, so know which one you are on.
- Franklin Basin is groomed for snowmobiles too; expect company, and give sleds room on the shared road.
- Carry a beacon, shovel and probe in avalanche terrain, and never travel it alone or without reading the day's Logan-zone forecast.
The decision, decided honestly
Beaver Mountain or Cherry Peak, one table.
These two are not really rivals; they solve different problems. Beaver Mountain is the day trip, the terrain and the powder; Cherry Peak is the after-work lap, the learners' hill and the cheapest lit snow around. Here is each place in its own published numbers as of August 2026, with the honest cells left honest where sources disagree. There is no winner to declare, only which winter you are buying.
| Beaver Mountain | Cherry Peak | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive from Logan | About 27 miles, 35 to 45 minutes up Logan Canyon | About 20 miles, 30 minutes via Richmond |
| Vertical | 1,700 ft, summit near 8,860 | 1,265 ft, base 5,775 to summit 7,050 |
| Skiable acres | About 828 | Roughly 200 to 400, sources differ |
| Runs | 48 | 29 to 38, sources differ |
| Lifts | Four chairlifts plus two surface conveyors | Three chairlifts |
| Night skiing | Mainly private events, limited public nights | Most of the hill, about 5 to 9 pm |
| Season | Mid-December to early April, snow permitting | Winter into spring; 2026 deals ran to March 31 |
| Adult full-day ticket | 75 dollars, 2026-27 | 55 dollars, night 28 |
| Adult season pass | 780 new, 625 renewing, 2026-27 | Sold by day, night and season; check the resort |
| Pass network | Independent, no multi-resort pass | Indy Allied, 25 to 50 percent off |
| Owned since | The Seeholzer family, since the late 1930s | Opened 2015; listed for sale in 2026 |
Every figure as published by the named resort or a named source, read August 2026. Cherry Peak's acreage and run count are given as a range because its own sources do not agree; the vertical is consistent across all of them.
Living with it
What the snow does to a Cache Valley winter.
For anyone weighing a move to the valley, the winter cuts both ways and it is worth seeing both edges. The upside is genuine: two ski areas inside a 45-minute drive, free groomed Nordic trails a few minutes from town, a national forest of backcountry out the back door, and the standing option, on any gray afternoon, of climbing out of the inversion into sun. Households here ski more because it is close and cheap, and a Beaver Mountain family pass or a Cherry Peak night pass is a normal line in a local budget rather than a splurge.
The cost is the air, and it is honest to name it. The same bowl that holds the snow holds the pollution, and the valley floor spends real stretches of winter under a cold, dirty lid. That shapes where people choose to live, how much they value a few hundred feet of bench elevation, and how often they drive uphill just to breathe. If you are comparing a Logan address against Smithfield, Hyde Park or a canyon-adjacent bench, the tradeoff between price, commute and winter air is a real one, and the town guides carry the practical numbers to weigh it.
From your town
The same winter, from your own doorstep.
Logan is where most days to Beaver Mountain begin, at the mouth of the canyon on US-89; Richmond is the door to Cherry Peak, a few minutes from the base. The drive up Logan Canyon is its own subject and has its own page. As the valley's town guides land, each takes its own door to the snow.
