Hometown Mountain Shoutout: Beaver Mountain Ski Area – Utah’s Best Kept Secret

With the ski industry being taken over by corporate giants, it can be refreshing to spend your money at a small, quiet, and family-run operation. That’s where Beaver Mountain comes in. 

Beaver Mountain, or as the locals call it, “The Beav,” is located up Logan Canyon just 20 minutes away from Bear Lake, Utah. The resort is conveniently placed between Logan and Garden City, making it a hot spot for young students from Utah State University and retirees from Garden City alike. 

Compared to other Utah resorts, the mountain stats aren’t as thrilling, but it gets the job done. 

• 828 skiable acres 
• 400+ inches annually 
• 1700’ vertical drop 
• 48 runs 
• 4 chair lifts & 2 surface lifts

The resort is often forgotten because it is overshadowed by its big brothers in the area, Powder Mountain and Snowbasin, but you don’t go to The Beav expecting the same treatment you get at a large resort. 

The resort is the longest continuously family-operated ski area in the country and the atmosphere definitely backs that up. The ticket office is still run by Marge Seeholzer, the daughter-in-law of the founder of the ski area, Harold Seeholzer. Marge has been running the ticket office six days a week since 1970 and has no plans of slowing down. 

This last winter, I took my new-to-skiing girlfriend to Beaver Mountain and she purchased a punch pass, which promptly blew away in the wind because I secured it to her jacket incorrectly. We went back to the ticket office to purchase another, but Marge pitied us and granted my girlfriend another punch pass free of charge after a lecture about keeping track of our things. You just don’t receive that kind of treatment anywhere else in the world of skiing which is what makes Beaver so special. 

Nestled in the Cache National Forest, Beaver serves as a gateway to endless tree skiing, beautiful views, great backcountry spots, and a heartwarming atmosphere. Volunteer ski patrol, slow lifts, and parking lot tailgates tell you all you need to know about The Beav, but if you ask me, that place sucks, don’t go there.