The resort Beaver
Burned in 2026, closed for a season, not closed for good
Eagle Point, the quiet Beaver ski mountain the 2026 fire interrupted.
Eighteen miles up Beaver Canyon sits a small, high, uncommonly quiet ski resort. In the summer of 2026 the Cottonwood Fire burned across the mountain, destroyed a base lodge and damaged most of its lifts, and later flooding closed the only road up. Here is the resort as it has long worked, and the honest account of what happened.
By Scott Buehler, Beaver local
Updated September 2026
The short answer
Eagle Point is a small, high, quiet ski resort in the Tushar Mountains east of Beaver, reached up State Route 153 at the head of Beaver Canyon. The base sits near 9,000 feet with lifts climbing toward 10,600, two base areas linked by a shuttle, and a short week of open days, which for years made it one of the least crowded lift-served mountains in Utah. In the summer of 2026 the Cottonwood Fire burned across the mountain, destroyed the Canyonside base lodge, and damaged four of its five chairlifts, and the resort cancelled the 2026-27 winter season. Below is the mountain as it has long worked, an honest account of what the fire did, and where to check before you plan around it.
Start here
A small, high resort, interrupted, not gone.
Eagle Point sits about 18 miles up State Route 153 from Beaver, at the head of Beaver Canyon in the Tushar Mountains, the third highest range in Utah. It is a genuinely small, high mountain: a base near 9,000 feet, lifts reaching toward 10,600, and a resort that for years ran a short Friday through Monday week rather than opening every day. That combination, deep snow with very few people on the hill, is the whole appeal, and it is why regulars have long called it the least crowded lift-served skiing in the state.
Before the summer of 2026 it ran around 600 skiable acres and roughly 40 runs on five lifts, with two base areas, Canyonside and Skyline, linked by a shuttle and a balanced spread of beginner, intermediate and advanced terrain. The Cottonwood Fire changed that. It destroyed the Canyonside lodge, damaged four of the five lifts, and burned across about half the terrain, and the resort set the 2026-27 season aside while it takes stock. The section below walks through what happened, plainly.
Eagle Point at a glance
9,000 ft+
base, high in the Tushars
10,600 ft
near the top of the mountain
~400 in
average annual snowfall
18 mi
up SR-153 from Beaver
What the 2026 fire did
A fire on the mountain, then a flood on the road.
The Cottonwood Fire started above Beaver Canyon in June 2026, near the Cottonwood Campground east of town, and grew fast into one of the largest wildfires burning in the country that summer, eventually charring close to 100,000 acres across the Tushar high country. Unlike most fires that pass near a ski area, this one ran up onto the resort itself.
Eagle Point has been direct about the damage. The fire destroyed the Canyonside base lodge and the Tushar Ridge warming station, damaged four of the resort's five chairlifts, and burned across roughly half of the ski terrain. It also destroyed around 145 homes and condominiums in the Eagle Point residential community below the lifts. The resort's owner, Shane Gadbaw, called sitting out the winter a difficult but necessary decision, since replacing haul ropes and other lift parts can take many months.
Then the water came. A burned mountainside sheds rain instead of soaking it up, and July 2026 storms sent debris flows down the canyon that tore out sections of State Route 153, the only paved road to the resort. UDOT closed the canyon, and local officials have said the full rebuild could take a long time. So there are two problems stacked on top of each other: a resort that has to rebuild, and a road that has to be rebuilt before most people could reach it anyway.
Confirm current status before planning any trip to Eagle Point. The 2026 fire damaged the resort and later flooding closed State Route 153. Check the resort's own site for operating plans and UDOT road conditions for the canyon before assuming any part of this has changed.
What it was like
The mountain in an ordinary winter.
For anyone who never made it up before 2026, here is the mountain Eagle Point has been, and what it can build back toward. Two base areas anchored the resort. Canyonside sat closest to the steeper, advanced terrain, and Skyline was built around the beginner and intermediate runs, the lessons and the rentals, with a shuttle running between them so the whole hill worked as one resort. Difficulty split fairly evenly across ability levels, roughly a quarter beginner, a third intermediate, and the rest advanced and expert, which is unusually balanced for a mountain this size.
The other defining trait was the short week. Rather than open every day, Eagle Point historically ran Friday through Monday, and that, plus the long drive and the high, remote setting, is why it stayed so quiet even in a good snow year. Season passes and promotions, including winters with a kids ski free deal, shifted from year to year, so those were always worth confirming with the resort rather than assuming they carried forward. All of it is worth reading as the mountain the fire interrupted, not a mountain that is gone.
The details
A resort this small always ran on a short list of open days. The honest thing now is to describe the mountain it has been, point you to the resort and UDOT for what comes next, and not pretend the road and the lifts are ready when they are not.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
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Read the pageQuick answers
Eagle Point, answered.
It did not operate for the 2026-27 winter season. In the summer of 2026 the Cottonwood Fire burned much of the mountain, destroyed the Canyonside base lodge, and damaged four of its five chairlifts, and the resort announced it would sit the season out. Damage and access can change, so check the resort's own site for current operating status before planning a trip.
The Cottonwood Fire started above Beaver Canyon in June 2026 and grew into one of the largest wildfires burning in the country that summer. It destroyed the Canyonside Lodge and the Tushar Ridge warming station, damaged four of the resort's five chairlifts, and burned across roughly half of the ski terrain. It also destroyed around 145 homes and condominiums in the Eagle Point residential community below the lifts.
High in the Tushar Mountains east of Beaver, about 18 miles up State Route 153 at the head of Beaver Canyon. The base sits near 9,000 feet and the upper mountain reaches toward 10,600, which makes it one of the highest resorts in Utah.
State Route 153 up Beaver Canyon is the only paved way in, and flooding across the burned mountainside severely damaged it in July 2026, closing the canyon road. There is no second paved route, though a rough unpaved track reaches the mountain from the Junction side over the top. Check UDOT road conditions for the current state of SR-153 before counting on it.
Before the 2026 fire it ran around 600 skiable acres and roughly 40 runs on five lifts, with a balanced spread of beginner, intermediate and advanced terrain and two base areas linked by a shuttle. The fire changed what is standing, so confirm the current lift and terrain count with the resort.
Two reasons. It is remote, about three hours south of the Wasatch Front, and it has historically run a short week, opening Friday through Monday rather than every day. High elevation and a lot of snow with very few people on the hill is the whole appeal, and it is why regulars call it Utah's least crowded lift-served mountain.
The resort has marketed around 400 inches of snow in an average winter. Its high, cold Tushar setting holds snow well, which is part of why a ski resort this far south in Utah works at all.
It opened in 1972 as Mount Holly Ski Area under Conrad and Amy Koning, grew together with the neighboring Elk Meadows area, and ran for years under the Elk Meadows name before closing after the 2001-02 season. It reopened around 2010 as Eagle Point, under an ownership group that includes Shane Gadbaw.
In normal years the high country around the resort has been a quiet base for hiking and the occasional summer event. After the 2026 fire and the damage to State Route 153, plan on nothing until the resort and UDOT say otherwise, and check the resort's own site for what is open.
A mountain in recovery, worth understanding before you buy near it.
A cabin or lot near Eagle Point is a very different purchase from a house in Beaver itself, and after the 2026 fire that gap matters more, not less. What burned, what is being rebuilt, and how you actually get up the canyon are exactly the things a listing photo will not tell you. I would rather walk you through what it means for value here than let a portal estimate speak for a market this specific.
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