The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Antelope Butte's summit reaches 9,398 feet, dropping 1,000 vertical feet to a base at 8,399 feet across 28 runs spread over roughly 250 acres in the Bighorn National Forest. Terrain splits 18 per cent beginner, 25 per cent intermediate and 57 per cent advanced, with no expert-rated runs. The resort operates on Indy Pass, giving pass holders access to Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains without the crowds found at larger Rocky Mountain resorts. Annual snowfall averages roughly 200 inches, drawing on the range's high-elevation snowbelt.
Two double chairlifts and a single surface lift give access across the mountain's 28 runs, with the surface lift dedicated to lower-mountain beginner terrain. Advanced skiers account for 57 per cent of the trail count, against 25 per cent intermediate and 18 per cent beginner. That split makes Antelope Butte better suited to skiers already comfortable on steeper pitches than to first-timers, despite marketing that frames it as a family learning hill. The terrain covers roughly 250 acres within the Bighorn National Forest boundary.
Antelope Butte operates as a nonprofit, run by the Antelope Butte Foundation after the ski area sat closed from 2004 until volunteer restoration returned lifts to operation for the 2019-20 season. There is no on-site village; skiers arrive by car and the base area centres on a single lodge building. Lift queues are minimal given the area's small scale and remote Bighorn Mountains setting, roughly an hour's drive from the nearest town. The adjoining Nordic ski area adds five miles of groomed cross-country trail.
Indy Pass holders get two lift-ticket days at Antelope Butte per season, alongside access to other independent areas across North America under the same pass. A 2025/26 season pass cost 399 US dollars, with single adult day tickets at 50 dollars regular and 60 dollars on peak days. The resort suits skiers seeking an uncrowded, advanced-leaning mountain over a polished resort experience, given the absence of on-site lodging or commercial village infrastructure. Its nonprofit structure keeps prices well below those of larger Rocky Mountain resorts nearby.
1,001ft
Vertical
28
Runs
500 acres
Skiable
17ft
Annual snow
Indy
Pass
The Terrain
28 runs across 500 acres skiable
Antelope Butte spreads 28 runs across 500 acres skiable of terrain. It leans advanced at 57%, with 5 beginner runs to find your feet and 16 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
28
runs
28 runs across 4 grades
Beginner5 runs · 18%
Intermediate7 runs · 25%
Advanced16 runs · 57%
Expert0 runs · 0%
Time it right
When to visit Antelope Butte
The 2025-26 season at Antelope Butte ran from 20 December 2025 through 29 March 2026, a roughly fourteen-week window typical for this elevation band in the Bighorn Mountains. Dates shift year to year based on snowpack and the nonprofit foundation's staffing and grooming capacity. The mountain operates strictly as a winter destination during this window, alongside its separate Nordic ski trail system. Closing in late March means the season ends before many larger Rocky Mountain resorts, which often run into April.
Average annual snowfall at Antelope Butte runs to roughly 200 inches, reflecting the high-elevation snowbelt position of the Bighorn range between 8,399 and 9,398 feet. Base depth and season totals are tracked through the resort's own snow reporting rather than a regional avalanche centre feed. Snowmaking coverage is not documented for this area, leaving conditions more dependent on natural snowfall than at larger, investment-backed resorts. That natural dependency makes early and late-season depth more variable than at snowmaking-heavy competitors.
Mid-winter, from January through February, offers the most reliable base depth once early-season snowpack has built up across the terrain. Powder conditions favour storm-cycle timing given the reliance on natural snowfall rather than manufactured cover. Late-season visits in March can be inconsistent, with the area's 29 March close date reflecting typical spring snowpack decline at this elevation. Weekday visits year-round tend to be quieter than weekends, given the area's role as a regional rather than destination resort.
Antelope Butte does not operate night skiing, consistent with its scale and volunteer-supported operating model. The adjoining Nordic ski area, part of the Bighorn National Forest's winter sports programme, runs its own five-mile groomed trail season alongside the alpine lifts through the same window. As a nonprofit community resource rebuilt by volunteer labour after 2016, the mountain's calendar centres on keeping lifts running reliably through winter rather than hosting festivals or competitions. The Foundation relies on member and donor support to fund each season's operation.
Season 2025 - 2026
20 Dec 2025
Opens
29 Mar 2026
Closes
99
Days open
17 ft
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Antelope Butte, and where to stay
Antelope Butte sits inside the Bighorn National Forest in north-central Wyoming, with a base elevation of 8,399 feet in the Bighorn Mountains' northern range. The resort lies on the west side of the range along the US-14 corridor. Summit elevation reaches 9,398 feet, giving the ski area a 1,000-foot vertical drop within national forest land. The surrounding terrain is undeveloped forest and alpine ridge rather than a built-up resort village.
Sheridan, Wyoming, lies 59 miles east of the resort via US-14, the nearest town of meaningful size and home to the Antelope Butte Foundation's offices. Greybull sits roughly 28 miles away on the range's western side, providing a closer but smaller service town. Both towns supply the lodging and groceries that the resort itself does not, given the absence of an on-site village. The wider Bighorn Basin region carries a ranching and small-town character rather than a ski-town identity.
US Highway 14, known through this stretch as the Bighorn Scenic Byway, provides the only paved access route to Antelope Butte. The drive from Sheridan takes roughly 75 minutes, climbing through switchbacks typical of the byway's mountain crossing. Winter driving conditions on US-14 can include snowpack and ice, standard for a high-elevation forest highway in this range. No public transport service runs to the resort, making a car the only practical way to arrive.
Sheridan County Airport (SHR) is the nearest airport, roughly 66 miles from the resort and served by nonstop flights to Denver. Billings Logan International Airport in Montana offers a wider range of connections and sits within driving range for visitors flying from further afield. No rail service reaches this part of the Bighorn Basin, and no scheduled bus or shuttle connects Sheridan to the resort. Visitors typically rent a car in Sheridan or Billings for the final leg to Antelope Butte.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Antelope Butte, powered by Stay22.
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