When does Brian Head open for the 2026-27 season?
The resort has announced Friday, November 6, 2026 as opening day, the earliest in Utah. It plans to run daily until the snow is gone and has not posted a closing date; mid April is typical.
Duck-Creek-Guide
Skiing & Snowboarding at Brian Head
Two connected mountains, eight chairs, the highest lift base in the state, and a season that starts in early November. What the trail map does not tell you.
Auf einen Blick
- 2026-27 opening day
- Friday, November 6, 2026, the earliest in Utah. Runs until the snow is gone, typically mid April
- The mountain
- 8 chairlifts (2 high-speed quads, 5 triples, 1 double) plus 5 surface lifts, 72 runs, 650+ acres
- Elevation
- Lifts from 9,600 to 10,920 ft, 1,320 ft of vertical; 3 chairs top out above 10,800 ft
- Terrain mix
- 32% beginner, 36% intermediate, 32% advanced; Navajo is the learning side, Giant Steps the main side
- Tickets
- Day tickets advertised from $9 bought early, with a $10 resort credit; kids 12 and under ski free on the Power Kids Pass
- Night skiing
- Fridays and Saturdays 4 to 9 pm on Blackfoot and the Giant Steps conveyor; nightly over the holiday blocks except Dec 24 and 25
Brian Head Resort spans two connected mountains. Navajo is the beginner side, with the learning area, the kids’ programs and the lowest base on the hill at 9,600 ft. Giant Steps is where the main lodge sits, with the rental counter, the tubing hill and the lift that runs all summer for bikes. The resort counts 72 runs across more than 650 acres, split roughly a third each beginner, intermediate and advanced, and it is the only ski area in southern Utah, which matters more than its size: the next lift south is in Arizona.
A ski day from Duck Creek is an hour and a quarter each way in winter by Mammoth Creek Road and Highway 143 when that road is passable (the way we usually go), or a 61-mile, 1 hr 35 loop down to Cedar City and up Parowan Canyon on a Class II traction-law road when it is not. The drive page has the leg-by-leg table and the live SR-143 cameras; if you would rather wake up across the road from the lift, read on.
The mountain, lift by lift
The chart is the part the trail map does not tell you. Measured from mapped lift geometry and USGS elevations, Giant Steps Express serves the biggest single stretch of vertical at 1,142 ft, and 3 lifts top out above 10,800 ft. That high cluster is why Brian Head can still be skiing in April when lower Utah resorts are closing: the snow that matters is sitting a thousand feet above the parking lot.
- Reached from Giant Steps
- Reached from Navajo, the learning side
| Lift | Bottom | Top | Vertical |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dunes | 10,360 ft | 10,912 ft | 552 ft |
| Giant Steps Express | 9,766 ft | 10,908 ft | 1,142 ft |
| Roulette | 10,063 ft | 10,820 ft | 757 ft |
| Wildflower | 9,826 ft | 10,398 ft | 572 ft |
| Alpen Glow | 9,827 ft | 10,368 ft | 541 ft |
| Navajo Express | 9,629 ft | 10,252 ft | 623 ft |
| Blackfoot | 9,755 ft | 10,192 ft | 437 ft |
| Pioneer | 9,608 ft | 9,758 ft | 150 ft |
Terminal elevations from OpenStreetMap lift lines sampled against USGS 3DEP; they land within a few feet of the resort’s published base and summit. Plus 5 surface lifts (magic carpets and rope tows) on the learning terrain.
Nothing at the resort is below 9,600 ft and nothing lift-served is above 10,920 ft. Brian Head Town (9,800 ft) and Brian Head Peak (11,307 ft) are different numbers for different things; the overview sorts the four of them out. For a visitor from sea level the practical point is that the whole day happens above 9,600 feet: drink more than you think, expect the first morning to feel harder than it should, and take the altitude seriously if anyone in the group has a heart or lung condition.
The season: when it opens, when it is good, when it ends
For 2026-27 the resort has announced Friday, November 6, 2026 as opening day, which makes it the first lift to turn in Utah again. Opening day is a snowmaking achievement rather than a natural one: the federal snow station on the mountain reads a median of three inches on November 6, so expect a couple of groomed runs on machine-made snow and a lively crowd. The resort says it will run seven days a week until all the snow is gone, which in most years means mid April; it has not posted a closing date.
Behind the marketing calendar sits the station record: the pack first reaches 24 inches around December 18 in a median year, is genuinely deep from January, peaks around March 18 at a median 64 inches, and holds 24 inches or more until about May 2. February and the first half of March are the weeks that have held up best across fifteen winters. The snow report page has the live depth, the forecast and the full curve.
The resort put more than two million dollars into the 2026-27 season, most of it snowmaking: a new pipeline lets crews run up to 24 snow guns at once on Navajo (16 to 18 before), which speeds coverage on the Paradise trail and the beginner terrain by the Kids Camp conveyor and the Pioneer lift. That is the part of the investment a first-week visitor will actually notice.
On the mountain right now
Typical values for this date from fifteen winters of station data; live readings load in a moment.
Snow depth at 10,040 ft
…cm
NRCS SNOTEL Brian Head, on the mountain above the Giant Steps base
Temperature at the sensor
…°C
Hourly reading, always shown with its time
Typical depth for today
…cm
Median of 15 seasons, with the middle-half range
NWS forecast for Brian Head (grid point at about 10,200 ft)
Hours, night skiing and the holiday blocks
The resort’s published day hours are weekdays 10:00am–4:00pm; weekends and peak periods 9:30am–4:30pm, and its current lift-ticket page lists day tickets as 9:30 am to 4:00 pm daily; treat the earlier figure as the weekday pattern and check the hours page the week you go. Night skiing runs Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 9 pm on the Blackfoot lift and the Giant Steps conveyor, with the rental shop in the Giant Steps Lodge open those evenings. Over the holiday blocks it expands to every night except December 24 and 25: Christmas (December 20 to January 4), Martin Luther King weekend (January 17 to 19) and Presidents Day week (February 14 to 22). Last season’s night window ran December 19 to April 5; the 2026-27 dates were not posted when we checked.
Those same three holiday blocks are when the town is full, the tubing hill runs late and the lift lines are longest. Midweek in January and March is the opposite: short lines, the cheapest tickets and the quietest lodging.
Lift tickets, kids free and passes
Brian Head prices its day tickets by date and sells the cheapest ones early: the resort advertises tickets “as low as $9” on many days, in limited quantities, rising as the date approaches. Every lift ticket has recently come with $10 of resort credit to spend on the hill. Buy online for a specific date; tickets can be deferred up to the evening before and refunded in full within 48 hours of purchase under the resort’s current terms. Walk-up window prices are the ceiling, not the norm.
Children 12 and under ski free all season on the Power Kids Pass, which the resort describes as 100 percent free with no purchase required and no blackout dates; you enrol online and bring proof of age. For families that single policy changes the maths of a Brian Head week more than any lodging deal. Adults on a multi-day trip should price the resort’s own season pass against day tickets; it is a Mountain Capital Partners resort on the Power Pass family of products and, as of this writing, is not on Ikon or Epic.
Ticket prices, pass terms and promotions change every season, and the resort has run a Utah-resident day, military discounts and beginner packages in past winters. Read the current terms on brianhead.com rather than trusting a number here.
Rentals, lessons and first-timers
The resort rents skis and boards from the Giant Steps Lodge (open on night-skiing evenings too), and Brian Head Sports across the road from the base rents the same gear from a log-sided shop a few hundred feet from the lift; there is no ski rental in Duck Creek Village, so rent at the mountain or in Cedar City on the way up. Lessons run from the Navajo side for beginners and kids, which is the quieter, gentler base, and the resort has sold conveyor-only beginner tickets for people who want a day on the learning carpet before committing to a chair.
A first-timer’s day works best on Navajo in the morning and a lap or two of Giant Steps’ green runs after lunch; the resort’s free shuttle has linked the two bases in past seasons, and the drive between them is under a mile.
October 2026
Warum diesem Guide vertrauen
Lift elevations are OpenStreetMap lift geometry with USGS 3DEP terminal elevations, sampled September 2026. Resort statistics are the Ski Utah member page the resort supplies (72 runs; the resort’s own conditions page counts 73 trails). Opening day, ticket pricing, the Power Kids Pass, night skiing and the snowmaking investment were checked on brianhead.com, Ski Utah and the Deseret News on 22 October 2026. Hours and prices change every season; the official pages are linked below.
Brian Head skiing questions
The ones we answer at the front desk every winter.
What time does Brian Head open?
The resort’s published day hours are weekdays 10:00am–4:00pm; weekends and peak periods 9:30am–4:30pm, and its lift-ticket page lists 9:30 am to 4:00 pm daily. Night skiing runs 4 to 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and nightly over the holiday blocks. Check the hours page the week you go.
Does Brian Head have night skiing?
Yes: Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 9 pm on the Blackfoot lift and the Giant Steps beginner conveyor, expanding to every night except December 24 and 25 during the Christmas, MLK and Presidents Day blocks. Night rentals are available in the Giant Steps Lodge.
How much are Brian Head lift tickets?
Tickets are priced by date and sold cheapest early; the resort advertises day tickets from $9 in limited quantities, and every ticket has recently included $10 of resort credit. Kids 12 and under ski free on the Power Kids Pass. Prices change by season and date, so check brianhead.com for your dates.
Do kids ski free at Brian Head?
Children 12 and under ski free all season with the free Power Kids Pass. The resort says no purchase is required and there are no blackout dates; enrol online and bring proof of age such as a birth certificate.
What is the elevation of Brian Head ski resort?
The lifts run from 9,600 ft at the Navajo base to 10,920 ft at the top of The Dunes, 1,320 ft of vertical. Brian Head Town is at 9,800 ft and Brian Head Peak, above the resort, is 11,307 ft.
Is Brian Head on the Ikon or Epic pass?
Not as of this writing. Brian Head is a Mountain Capital Partners resort and sells its own Power Pass products. Check the resort’s pass page for the current season before assuming.
Is Brian Head good for beginners?
About a third of the terrain is rated beginner and the whole Navajo side is built around learning, with magic carpets, a kids’ camp and ski school. Opening weekend has limited terrain; by late December the beginner side is normally fully open.
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Snow Report & Weather
Live snow depth from the SNOTEL station on the mountain, the NWS forecast for Brian Head, and fifteen seasons of data on when the snow is actually deep
See snow report & weather Where to Stay
The two-bedroom condo we co-host across the street from the Giant Steps lift, plus the honest trade-offs of sleeping in Brian Head, Duck Creek, Parowan or Cedar City
See where to stay Snow Tubing & Ice Skating
Tubing sessions at the Giant Steps base with the tube included, ages 4 and up, hours and holiday blocks, sledding, and the outdoor rink in town
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Ski Brian Head, Sleep Where You Like
Walk to the lift from the condo we co-host, or base at Duck Creek Village Inn and make Brian Head one great day of a mountain week.