Healy Nordic ski trail on railroad land heads to the Denali Borough Assembly

The Denali Borough's Community and Outdoor Recreation Committee on Wednesday backed a groomed Nordic ski trail on Alaska Railroad land near Healy's Tri-Valley Subdivision. It was the committee's first resolution.

"We're like real committee people now, you guys," Chair Tina Graham said after the vote.

The resolution goes to the Borough Assembly with the committee's report Nov. 11. Borough staff said they expect to draft an Assembly resolution supporting the project.

The trail still needs the railroad's permission and a place for skiers to park. Borough staff applied for a railroad entry permit, and Community Development Director Stephanie Ford said the railroad has acknowledged the application but hasn't responded. She said the roughly eight-week timeline runs to about the first week of November.

Ford's draft of the resolution said skiers would park at the Tri-Valley Community Center, so no plowing costs were expected. Committee member Al Guggisberg said he couldn't promise that parking yet, and the committee amended the line to say only that no plowing costs are anticipated. Guggisberg said he's working on access options, including with nearby landowners, and doesn't foresee asking the borough for money.

The resolution projects a $500 annual railroad permit fee, with volunteers grooming the trail. It cites surveys for the borough's Community and Outdoor Recreation Plan, approved in February 2025, which ranked groomed ski trails fourth among residents' top 10 recreation wishes.

It also notes that groomed trails on Otto Lake were popular last winter, though conditions there may not hold in most years. Every time the borough posted that Otto Lake had been groomed again, "we had zero negative comments, which was just absolutely phenomenal," Graham said earlier in the meeting. She was contrasting it with written comments about a possible Healy shooting range, Alaska News reported Wednesday.

A Fairbanks ski club is expected to decide at a November meeting whether to give away a snowmachine the committee hopes to use as a groomer, a committee member said.

A public work session on the trail is set for Nov. 19 at 7 pm.