Andy Tullis / The BulletinEmployees of High Desert Aggregate and Paving work Monday to pave the surface of the new Kapka Butte Sno-park. It's supposed to be completed by month's end.

Work crews should be done building the new Kapka Butte Sno-park west of Bend before it’s time for winter sports.

“We believe we should be completed with construction by the end of October,” said Kevin Larkin, Bend-Fort Rock District ranger for the Deschutes National Forest.

Planning for the project took a decade and the U.S. Forest Service faced opposition, both from backcountry users and a contingent of snowmobilers who argued for an expansion of Dutchman Flat Sno-park rather than the new sno-park.

The issue made it to federal court and a judge sided with the Forest Service in April, but legal matters aren’t over. The groups behind the lawsuit — Bend-based Wild Wilderness and the Bend Backcountry Alliance, as well as Boise-based Winter Wildlands Alliance — gave notice to the Forest Service that they may appeal the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and are in settlement talks, said Scott Silver, executive director for Wild Wilderness.

The Oregon State Snowmobile Association, American Council of Snowmobile Associations and Elk Lake Resort have joined the Forest Service in court to defend the plan for Kapka.

Kapka will provide another higher elevation sno-park, Larkin said, and is more likely to have snow throughout the winter sport season unlike lower elevation sno-parks like Wanoga Sno-park. But critics have said Kapka Butte, which is about 500 feet lower than Dutchman, isn’t high enough and could have snow issues.

Court records show a conference set for early November. While Kapka should be complete by then Silver said settlement talks will continue. The lawsuit focuses on the potential use of the sno-park and Silver said a judge could put use restrictions on Kapka while the case is sorted out.

Larkin declined to discuss the ongoing litigation.

Access to Kapka will be off Forest Road 45, just south of the Cascade Lakes Highway. Short connector trials will link the sno-park to existing nordic and snowmobile trails.

By building the new sno-park the Forest Service intends to alleviate crowding at Dutchman Flat. The small but popular sno-park is about 3 miles west of Kapka. A hub for snowmobilers, Nordic skiers and snowshowers, Dutchman has 26 parking spots.

Kapka will have 70 spots, Larkin said, all big enough for a truck pulling a trailer.

The size of the parking spots and the size of the lot at Kapka are among the problems Silver said he sees with the sno-park. He said the lot will be bigger than Wanoga, which has more than 100 spots.

“The enormity of (Kapka) will blow people’s socks off,” he said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com