Why would someone who lives along SR-903 drive down to I-90 and pay $120 to park for the season, when the Sno-Park at the top of their own road may cost $50?
It comes down to one short list on the Washington State Parks permit page. Eight Sno-Parks around the state get special grooming attention, and parking at them for the season takes two permits instead of one. Cabin Creek, Lake Easton and Crystal Springs are all on that list, and so is Hyak. Salmon La Sac is not. The Forest Service's own Salmon La Sac page muddies this a little. Its fee box lists the $70 seasonal Special Groomed Trail sticker alongside the $25 day permit and the $50 seasonal permit. The Cle Elum Ranger District, which grooms the site's non-motorized trails, is at 803 W. 2nd Street in Cle Elum, and a call to (509) 852-1100 will settle which permits the lot requires this winter.
What the permit list does to a season's cost
State Parks sells three kinds of Sno-Park permits. A one-day permit is $25 and a seasonal permit is $50. The Special-Groomed Trail permit is $70, and you buy it on top of the seasonal permit at the eight listed lots. All three go on sale November 1 and stay on sale through April 30.
| Where you park all season | Permits required per State Parks' list | Cost online or from State Parks | Cost from a retail vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon La Sac | Seasonal | $50 | $53 |
| Cabin Creek, Lake Easton, Crystal Springs, Hyak | Seasonal plus Special-Groomed Trail | $120 | $126 |
The vendor column runs higher because retail locations add a $3 handling fee to each permit. Buying online through the State Parks ePermits store skips that fee.
The gap only applies to seasonal parking. State Parks says a one-day permit is good until midnight on its date at every Sno-Park, including the special groomed trail areas. So a $25 day pass still works for a single outing at Cabin Creek. The $70 add-on matters once a seasonal permit sits on the windshield all winter. Also, seasonal permits can't be moved between vehicles, so a household with two cars that both head up the valley needs two.
Snowmobile owners have a slightly different setup. The $50 Washington Department of Licensing snowmobile registration includes one Sno-Park permit, and riders in the special groomed areas still need the extra groomed-trails permit. Whether a registered sled kept up the valley needs anything more at Salmon La Sac depends on that same special-groomed question.
What $50 gets you at the end of SR-903
State Parks lists about 100 parking spaces at Salmon La Sac and 38 miles of snowmobile trail. To get there, take I-90 Exit 80, head north on SR 903, then follow Forest Road 4315. For Ronald residents, most of that drive is the road they already live on.
Two crews split the grooming. State Parks lists Boulder Creek Enterprises as the motorized groomer and the Cle Elum Ranger District as the non-motorized groomer. The Forest Service calls the site shared-use and says it has 38 miles of groomed snowmobile trail plus 5.5 miles of groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trail. It also gives access to the Red Mountain and Howson Creek voluntary non-motorized areas. State Parks puts the non-motorized trail at 4 miles, so the two agencies don't agree on that figure. Skiers planning a loop should allow for something between the two.
Both agencies give the same season. The Forest Service says a Sno-Park permit is required December 1 through March 31, and State Parks lists the same window for grooming. Neither page calls those dates a new 2026–27 schedule. They're the standing season.
How the I-90 lots compare once you've paid for them
The $70 add-on does pay for something real. Cabin Creek is a non-motorized Sno-Park with 200 spaces, groomed by LandTek. Its State Parks page gives two different trail totals, 25 miles in the description and 21 miles under trail length. Crystal Springs, at Exit 62 on Forest Road 54, is shared-use with 150 spaces and 51 miles of trail. Lake Easton State Park grooms its non-motorized side, and State Parks lists the Erling Stordahl grooming schedule as Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Lake Easton, at Exit 70, is smaller, with 30 spaces, 3 miles of cross-country ski trail and 15 miles of snowmobile trail. The state park grooms it.
Gold Creek, at Exit 54, is the I-90 lot that sits outside the special-groomed list. It has 200 spaces, 23 miles of motorized trail and 1.7 miles of snowshoe trail, and the Cle Elum Ranger District does the motorized grooming.
Pass conditions bring a cost you won't see on a permit. The Crystal Springs page warns that grooming may stop during pass closures or high avalanche danger. Salmon La Sac is reached from SR 903 rather than over the pass corridor, so the drive from Ronald keeps you off the highway stretch that grooming schedules have to work around.
Three dates bracket the start of the season
From the north end of Cle Elum Lake, the season opens in this order:
- October 31. The Forest Service's reduced Three Queens Fire area closure, Order 06-17-03-2026-45, is set to stay in effect through this date unless it's lifted sooner. Its October 21 update reopened more of the north end of Cle Elum Lake and areas around the north end of Kachess Lake. The remaining order still lists the Cooper River, Pete Lake, Gold Creek Valley, Alaska Lake and Waptus Pass trails as closed, along with Owhi Campground and boat launch. It lists Forest Service Road 4308 as open, and the Waptus River Trail as open up to its Trail Creek Trail junction. Salmon La Sac Road and the Sno-Park aren't on its closed lists, but the order's boundary description does mention the Salmon La Sac Trailhead. Check the Forest Service alert for the current map before heading up.
- November 1. Permits go on sale online and at retail vendors. The State Parks vendor list for the area shows two Cle Elum locations, Motortoys Cle Elum at 71 Airport Rd and Sportland Mini Mart at 4400 Bullfrog Rd. It lists no vendors in Ronald, Roslyn, Easton or South Cle Elum. For people who live up the valley, buying online saves the $3 fee and the drive.
- December 1. This is the start of the listed grooming season and of the Forest Service's permit requirement at Salmon La Sac.
That puts a month between the permit going on sale and grooming starting. The permit is required from December 1, so buying it in November just means it's ready when the season opens.
Checking the trail before you load the car
State Parks posts grooming reports on each Sno-Park's page. Those pages also say the reports are posted as received and may not reflect the most accurate current conditions. To show how late the season can run, the Cabin Creek page recorded its last grooming of the 2025–26 season on March 27, 2026.
The Central Cascades Winter Recreation Club keeps a grooming page that points back to the State Parks reports. The schedule it shows is one the club describes as the previous season's, and that schedule had Salmon La Sac groomed on Friday mornings. Treat Friday as a past pattern until this season's reports say otherwise.
For Ronald residents, winter recreation has a lot in common with summer. The reservoir set the rhythm of the summer, and winter mostly happens up the valley too. Fees and permit rules come from Washington State Parks and the Forest Service and can change, so check the State Parks Sno-Park permit page or call the Cle Elum Ranger District before you buy. This post is general information, not legal or financial advice.
If you're weighing a cabin or home up the valley, or wondering what yours is worth before the snow arrives, the Rau Peterson Team knows the Ronald and Lake Cle Elum area in every season. Get Your Instant Home Valuation to start.
