New Trail Map Released for Private Backcountry Ski Resort in Utah
A couple of Utah residents are building their own 400-acre backcountry ski area near Springville.
Richard Oldham and his brother, Sam, purchased a cabin property and the adjacent 400 acres roughly six years ago. In 2025, they dubbed the property Moose Springs Ranch and started cutting their own ski runs, building bike trails, and adding features for both. Moose Springs Ranch is private, fully off-grid, and unfinished, according to their website.
Over the last few years, Oldham has built a road to the top of the mountain, installed road gap features, and cleared trees to create new runs, sometimes with the help of volunteers. The highest peak at Moose Springs Ranch reaches an elevation of 8,300 ft. and has a north-facing zone with 1,200 feet of vertical drop and a west-facing zone with roughly 700 feet of drop, with a road to the top for snowmobile access.
There’s also an adjacent, more mellow ridge with 400-500 feet of vertical drop. This area has the easiest terrain on the property, but is also where Oldham has built all of the wooden features (think Travis Rice’s Natural Selection at Jackson Hole-style). A UTV can reach the top of this mellower area.
Oldham recently published a terrain map of Moose Springs Ranch, noting that many of the runs are unnamed and asking his social media following for any ideas to name them. He noted that the area gets snow comparable to that at Powder Mountain near Ogden, Utah. Coincidentally, Powder Mountain also has a private sector of the resort that’s open only to homeowners in the adjacent real estate community, Powder Haven.
Despite the trail map and social media promotion of the area, Moose Springs Ranch is only open to those personally invited by Oldham. “If you want to earn your turns, help build the mountain, and ride in real silence, this is the place,” reads the website, although more information on how to gain access isn’t available.
Comments on Oldham’s Instagram page state that the content created around Moose Springs Ranch is more of a storytelling endeavor than promotional for any future use of the property.
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