Snowmobile Registration and Permit Fees

…..stop the ballot box biology. The wolf reintroduction seems to be costing quite a bit of money. If Prop 127 goes through, that’ll be more expenditure. Leave the snowmobilers alone.

Leave fees as is for us and start charging the non-motorized hobbyists. They use the areas year round and pay nothing and then try to get motorized areas closed to the one's who are actually paying for them to be maintained. Ridiculous. Out of state registration is also expected to be higher than in state so worst case increase those for more funds.

Good morning; Today I submitted a survey form regarding the snowmobile fee increase, and am in favor of it. Please consider increasing "out of state" fees to a higher level than "in state" riders. We are the ones who maintain the trails, clean up after inconsiderate "out of staters", and pay vehicle tag fees to maintain the roads. Thank you.
Ron Osterholt
Salida, Co.

Please do not raise the fees. Everything in life has gotten so expensive - raising the fees will chase more people away, including me. I live close to the border in Wyoming, and I buy the CO permit out of respect as I am so close and may find myself on CO land occasionally. However, if the fee goes up, I probably wont buy it anymore as I have to make budget concessions in this ever increasingly expensive world. I get taxed on everything I do - when is it enough? People can hardly afford to leave home anymore. Wyoming charges 35 bucks a season and their trails are excellent. Maybe look at case studies on how WY can do it but CO can't?

I am in agreement of increasing the fees for the snowmobile registration. I am an avid outdoor enthusiast and my wife and I ride as much as we can in the mountains of Colorado on our snowmobiles. I also support the state fees with registering my side by side and my jet skis (which as noted cost $65 per for about 4 month of use). I understand is seems like a large increase but since its been almost 20 years it probably time for this to catch up. If you really want to get down to the nuts and bolts lets look at the "Users" that do NOT PAY ANY FEES! The mountain bike population is some much larger then any of the other activities and they do not pay a dime. Maybe $20 per bike per year would help with all of the forestry maintenance. Now lets hit the real ones (Users) that benefit from winter trail maintenance besides the snowmobilers is the cross county skiers. Down hill skiers pay there shares to the ski resorts to allow use, but cross county skiers pay nothing and use the trail access points that the snowmobile fees pay for to get groomed. Lets discuss charging them a fee for all of their use and benefits of snowmobile trail grooming. Fair is fair and all that use the forest and mountain trails should have an obligation to pay to utilize these areas. I don't like raising fees but sometimes this is what it takes. My only concerns is that the money will actually go to where the proposed plan states and not be wasted on other items that do not pertain to the mission. Maybe if everyone would pay their share of the area use we could all pay a bit less and the proposed rate would not have to be so large. Bicyclers and cross county skiers your day is coming to have to contribute!!! Thank you to all the hunting and fishing licenses that are purchased every year!!
Regards Ken Pavlick

As the current President of the Colorado snowmobile club in Northern Colorado, and an avid snowmobiler for over the past 20 years, I fully support an increase in the snowmobile registration dues. I do not say this lightly, I realize that money is always a hot subject. I have attended several of the State Colorado Snowmobile Association meetings and have seen how the snowmobile registration dollars have been used to the benefit of the sport. I have read several of the comments regarding persons ire and their own interpretation of how CPW manages The funds acquired from the registration money. It is false to assume that this money does not go back into the sport of snowmobiling. It is to everyone’s benefit that additional funds be given to match the unfortunate increases in costs. The state provides grant money for groomers, maintenance of groomers, and monies to keep the groomers functioning all winter long. This provides, amazing opportunities for persons, both in State and from out of State, to enjoy great groomed trails whenever they go out.

I also do support new fees for those who use Colorado parks and wilderness areas as an additional source of revenue. I applauded the initiation of persons requiring a fishing license to go to certain areas in Colorado . I would like to see registration for mountain bike use as well. We all have to “pay our share”, when it comes to enjoying our outdoors.

Respectfully submitted, Ashley van der Torre

I vigorously support the fee increase. It is long overdue and supports a great program and partnership. Without the program snowmobiling opportunities would be almost nonexistent is Colorado. With declining budgets on the federal side, these funds will only become more critical in the future.

I agree with the fee increase. It seems large because we have waited 17 years to increase the fee while the cost of equipment and maintenance has skyrocketed. The proposed fees are not out of line with surrounding states. It is not widely published that 83% of the fee funds go directly to facility improvements and equipment purchases and maintenance. The transparency issue could be improved with a publication of where the money is spent just like is done with OHV.

The state funding generated through raising registration fees will provide an essential boost in operations for the State's 20-ish snowmobile clubs that operate grooming equipment. These volunteer, non-profit groups groom public trails and maintain the equipment necessary to keep winter recreation trails open.


I personally volunteer over 200 hours a year operating and maintaining two snowcats for a local snowmobile club chapter. Our budget relies heavily on this program to fund operations every winter. Cost of fuel and equipment has doubled, and for specific manufactured items tripled, since the pandemic. Costs since 2007? Astronomical.


The majority of the funds generated by registration fees goes directly into the fuel tank of our machines and the parts worn down by use. To maintain the state’s groomed trail system takes intense coordination and hundreds of hours from volunteers. I ask those who say “clubs should be raising funds for this”: when was the last time you donated or volunteered for your local snowmobile club chapter?


It is disheartening to put in hundreds of hours each year to be told to do more for free by those who put in the bare minimum of only registering their vehicles. As someone who registers around 8 snowmobiles a year, I heartily support raising the fees for all users - in state, out of state and commercial registrations.

Please don't raise the fees. Everything in Colorado is so expensive as it is. Unless you ride a bicycle. I fear that all you will do with the extra money is close off more areas. If I would see that you would actually provide shelters and more trail options that would be a different story. But Colorado has proven again and again that all they will do is close areas restrict access and buy more gaits.
This should be a family sport along with atv/utv hunting etc... Colorado is making things so expensive a family can't enjoy the outdoors. Start charging the bicycle if you need extra money they are harder on the trails than a snowmobile.

Absolutely not!! The fees are already ridiculous, we pay registration fees for boats, sleds off road vehicles, construction equipment, cars, trucks, trailers, hunting licenses, habitat stamps, search and rescue, state and federal duck stamps and probably several more I didn’t list. What I didn’t list was bicycles, why? They pay no fees or insurance, however they are on every road and trail be it state or federal and yet pay no fees. Now we have E-Bikes everywhere and again no fees. With the economy the way it is I feel a fee reduction is in order. I’m not sure how all the money is even spent, maybe the CPW should tighten it’s belt like the rest of us have to do.

I think out of state people should pay $200 a year and commercial operations should pay $500 per machine. Having the funds distributed better for trails across the state and letting users know where the money went. The permit should help the state to secure snowmobile access

Please don't raise fees for residents. I do think you should consider raising fees for commercial businesses, especially on the tour operators, as they are the entities that primarily use the groomed trail systems for personal profit. Additionally, I would like to see increases on the fees for non-resident permits. May of the problems that occur between snowmobiles and others are the result of non-resident operators. I strongly encourage the commission to consider setting non-resident permit fees at no less than $200.00 per machine. Also, I think CPW should increase the enforcement and compliance patrols at Rabbit Ears, Wolf Creek, Hans Peek, and other locations to ensure non-resident compliance with the Colorado registration laws. Fines for a non-registered sled being on the ground should be no less $1000.00 and impoundment of non-registered sleds at a cost $100.00 per day. Sleds not claimed will be auctioned in the spring to support the CPW grant program. Thanks for your consideration.

It is ridiculous to raise fees by 70%. Talk about INFLATION! That's what the word inflation means, raising prices at a ridiculous rate. Fees in Wyoming are $35 and they groom trails like 10 lane highways for miles and miles. Colorado trail grooming doesn't even come close. Not only that Wyoming charges $105 for commercial registration! That is what Colorado needs to do.
I have been registering a snowmobile for more than 45 years and I have been on groomed trails maybe twice, and that was before they started charging for parking at Vail pass. I only ride a couple times a year and I ride about 1 mile from road-end to get to our cabin and then ride on forest service roads and forest service land. I don't even use groomed trails.
I can understand a little price adjustment for inflation, so bumping the fee up to $35 from $30.25 would be acceptable. I have always been happy paying for registration assuming my money was going to fund parks and wildlife, but if that money is going solely for grooming or into the pockets of administrators or just some slush fund, then I would consider not even registering my sleds.
And as stated by others here, all trail users should share the responsibility and pay their share and not just have the burden fall on the snowmobilers.

I understand the need to occasionally raise fees to keep up with inflation. If fees are going to be increased, here are my thoughts:
- There has to be transparency. We need to know where the money will be spent and how it will benefit snowmobilers. This seems both reasonable and non-negotiable.
- Non-resident snowmobilers should pay more for their permits than residents. This is no different than hunting and fishing licenses. I generally snowmobile in northern Colorado and often see more non-residents than residents. They are clogging up the mountain. If they want to play in my backyard, they should pay a premium.
- Others have mentioned a higher rate for commercial users. It's hard to argue with that sentiment. Those that are making a profit on our public lands should pay more than recreational users. They have every right to run a business and make a profit, but they should be open to paying a proportionate share for use of our resources.

I really thought the increase was more recent than 2007 so considering the gap, I could support a small increase. A comment that comes up a lot in conversation is how hunters, snowmobilers and utvrs are always the groups that pay the price when funds are needed. I would be in very strong support for requiring registering moutain bikes for trail use. I bike myself and would fully support instead of increasing the cost to other groups, have bicycles finally start paying some dues!

I don't think you should raise the fees. There are other ways to get the money you need. Start to charge the cross country skiers, snowshoers, bikers and hikers. Snowmobiles are already higher than utv's and snowmobiles do less damage to the mountain. I pay fees for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, 4-wheeling, habitat fee and a fee when I go camping. I think I pay plenty of fees for having fun in the mountains. The snowmobile club takes care of our groomed trails and parking lots. The cross country skiers/snowshoers use more of the facilities than the snowmobilers do. I have been on the mountain for some years and I have not seen an officer giving tickets or checking any riders (snow or utvs) for any registration in the past 10 years or so. The people out checking are just out there to have a fun day and they need to start doing there job.

Please do not raise snowmobile registration fees! Groomed trails are admittedly nice but I believe they should be the responsibility of local snowmobile clubs. Leave the fund raising to the local clubs. If the local community desires the groomed trails they will donate to the cause, and if not, then no groomed trails. The registration fee already feels like money going into the black hole of the state finance system; whether or not fees go up, it would be nice to have a publicly available resource to show where this money goes.

From an ice fisherman’s prospective, I understand you wanting to raise the price of trail riding snowmobiling as it takes a lot of time and work for people to maintain those trails, however as an ice fisherman using a snowmobile for strictly moving across a lake to hunt and stalk local fishers there is never anything really groomed for us to assess said lakes so again this from a ice fisherman prospective I do not think raising fees is a necessity whoever possibly something as easy as one color sticker for snowmobiles on the ice and one color for groomed trail snowmobiles and if you choose to do both ice fish as well as trail ride you would need that an additional sticker!!! Thanx for accepting my opinion.

Please stop raising fees on everything ! As a senior (60, not 65) - who very occasionally snowmobiles - I am not interested in supporting this continual creep of costs. I go out a couple of times a year, to places that are NOT groomed or maintained. I am to the point where I just won't register any longer if it goes up any more. I see supporters saying they want increased fees to better maintain trails. Great - let them happily pay at the trailhead instead of burdening everyone else - including many many people who don't use the popular groomed/maintained trails. All I want to do is go out a few times a year - as I've been doing for the last 20 years - and not be priced out of the activity.