Cross-country skiing is about to get easier at Kimball Junction.

The Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District is creating a five-kilometer loop exclusively for cross-country skiers below the Utah Olympic Park.

ZB Sports, located in Newpark next to Maxwell’s East Coast Eatery, is opening a yurt this winter to provide better service to cross-country skiers, also known as Nordic skiers.

According to Bonnie Park, spokesperson for Basin Recreation, the trailhead for the new five-kilometer loop won’t be ready this winter, but the trail will be open. Unlike other Basin trails, it will be closed to hikers, snowshoers and dogs. Like the other trails, it will be free and open to the public.

The new loop will join an existing network maintained by the district, which grooms trails along the S.R. 224 corridor and Ecker Hill Middle School. Mountain Trails Foundation also grooms a trail network in Round Valley, she said.

Since access is free, the trails are not groomed as frequently as those at the Park City Golf Club, Park said. Email [email protected] to be alerted when trails are groomed via a mass email.

ZB Sports recognizes the popularity of the Basin Recreation trails and has opened a yurt near the Newpark sundial to better serve skiers, said Rick Halliday, a partner with the company.

In the yurt, staff will tune skis, offer demos for the full line of Solomon Nordic skis and teach clinics for beginners and advanced skiers.

ZB Sports will also erect a yurt in Round Valley and offer transportation and guide service.

Halliday said the company hopes to take advantage the new loop.

“It should be a fantastic new place for Nordic skiers,” he said.

The plan is to open the yurts Thanksgiving weekend, weather permitting. If snowfall is insufficient, the plan is to open the first week of December.

The Newpark yurt will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., later when there is a full moon. In addition to ski service, the store will also sell accessories for the sport. A wood-burning stove, open fire pit for roasting marshmallows and free hot beverages will also be offered, he said.