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Tahoe Area Dog Sledding! Ski Touring! Adventures!

Here's a guide, unabashedly biased, about places to take your skinny skis in this part of the Sierra Nevadas. As avid XC skiers who have traveled far and wide to track ski, we hope our opinions will help you to choose the ski area that fits your skills and mood on any given day!

Spooner Lake Cross Country Ski Area

The absolute best Cross Country Ski Area at Lake Tahoe! More new trails, a wide variety of terrain, OUTSTANDING VIEWS of Lake Tahoe, great grooming and wilderness cabins for overnight stays make Spooner Cross Country Ski Area our favorite.

Incredible views and destinations, new trails, wilderness cabins you can ski or hike to, plus a commitment to great grooming characterize the Spooner State Park Spooner Cross Country Ski area. Take a gentle tour in the sun around the lake, or enjoy the rolling ups-and-downs of the lake loop trail. Spooner has plenty of beginner and advanced (rolling and mountainous) terrain. For those who enjoy wearing a hair shirt, there's still the Canyon Loop to Marlette Lake and beyond. Be prepared for a long ski and some leg-burning climbs, but you'll be rewarded by grand views of Lake Tahoe and exciting screamer downhill runs on the way back. When you're through, have one of Amy's big chocolate chip cookies and a cup of hot java in the cabin-lodge. (91 K of trails)

Wilderness Cabins: Reservations Required for Overnight Stays
Ski and Snowshoe Rentals: Touring, skating
Children's Pulk (pull-sled) Rentals
Lessons: One hour group lesson & trail pass & equipment rental
For rates, visit the Spooner Web Site

Spooner Summit is near the Northeast shore of Lake Tahoe
State Route 28, 12 miles south of Incline Village, NV
Phone: (775) 749-5349
More: wilderness cabins
More: Visit CrossCountrySkiTahoe.com

Auburn Ski Area

Auburn Ski Club does a great job with their steep and twisty-turny and up and down trails! Their programs include a full winter full of events for children and adults.

Located on Hwy. 90 West of Truckee
Phone: (530) 426-3313

Blue Lakes Road

If you have even the slightest antipathy toward snowmobiles go somewhere else. Skiing here is free; the road is groomed regularly for a snowmobile tour concession that operates here. So, the grooming is ideal for skating.

The two-strokes swarm pretty thick on weekends. However, if you can get there mid-week or before 10 a.m. (when snowmobilers wake up) you'll usually find the green traffic light. We try to maintain friendly relations by stepping off into the powder at the side while the sleds pass. Smile and wave. Most sledders smile and wave back, proving they're decent folk who just happen to be deluded into thinking that squeezing a throttle and going like hell is fun (which is exactly what we used to do as motorcycle racers in a former childhood!)

The road itself is basically a long gradual climb out and a downhill back. Views are magnificent. Once you make a short climb up through a canyon leading from the valley floor, the terrain on either side opens up into rolling hills with scattered forest.

Spring skiing here on packed crust in the morning, going in any direction whim dictates, is a delight beyond words. Try it, you'll see.

Blue Lakes Road is located on Hwy. 88 just South of Picketts Junction, where Hwys. 88 and 89 intersect.

Camp Richardson

Nice little trail system in the woods for serene and not-too-ambitious skiing. Mostly skating, but one loop is sometimes tracked for classic skiing.

Rentals: Touring, skating, snowshoes
Lessons: 1/2-hour beginners group lesson - $10 per person
Food: Great restaurant and cafe
Christmas Gift Shop through the Holidays
User fees are required.

State Route 89
(2 1/2 miles North of the "Y" in South Lake Tahoe)
P.O. Box 9028
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158
Phone: (530) 541-1801 For reservations: (800) 544-1801

Hope Valley Cross-Country

The trails are sometimes tracked with a snowmobile for the ski concession that offers rentals and lessons at the Sorenson's Lodge, which also has rustic lodging and a restaurant. We visit Hope Valley when we want some backwoods-style classic skiing. It's a long climb to the lake at the top, and a screamer downhill back when it's icy! The trails get good afternoon sun. Hope Valley is a favorite of many local ski shufflers.

Rentals: Touring, backcountry
Lessons: One and one-half hour lesson & trail pass & equipment rental available
Food: Sorenson's Resort
Cost all day: Donations Accepted

Located at Pickett's Junction where Hwys. 88 and 89 intersect.
Phone: (530) 694-2266

Kirkwood Cross Country

Try the Schneider Camp parking lot for wide open skiing on the most lovely of high-mountain plateaus! You will have to do some climbing here, but just think of the effort as your way of earning the thrills offered by Kirkwood's many exciting downhill trails. (65 K of trails)

Rentals: Touring, skating, telemark, showshoes
Lessons: Group lesson & trail pass & equipment rental available
Food: Day lodge
Trail fees are required.

Highway 88 near Carson Pass
Kirkwood, CA
Phone: (209) 258-6000

North Tahoe Regional Park

11 K of tracks, mostly for beginner skiers.
Trail fees are required.

National Ave. off State Route 28
Tahoe Vista, CA
Phone: (530) 546-7248

Real Estate Near Tahoe Cross Country

Northstar-at-Tahoe

The attraction of well-groomed and reasonably well laid out trails is diminished by a long trek through the muddy ski area parking lot, a ride up the hill on the tram, followed by a hike through the alpine ski school to get to the nordic center. If you want to alpine ski and skinny ski all in one place, Northstar may be just the place for you, but we usually go somewhere else.

There are 65 K of track and skating lanes, with new trails this season and warming huts.

Rentals: Touring, skating, telemark, snowshoes
Lessons: One and one-half hour group lesson & trail pass & equipment rental
Food: At the cross-country center and Northstar Village
Trail fees are required.

Hwy. 267 South of Truckee
Phone: (530) 562-2475

Real Estate At Northstar

Resort at Squaw Creek Cross-Country

The Resort at Squaw Creek's cross-country trails wind through the spectacular Squaw Valley meadow and the hills beyond.

Rentals: Touring, skating
Lessons: One hour group lesson & trail pass & equipment rental available
Food: Five restaurants
Trail fees are required.

Squaw Valley, CA
Phone: (530) 583-6300

Royal Gorge - USA

Unbelievably fabulous with terrain for any skier! Over 328 kilometers of trail that is impeccably tracked for both classic and skate skiing.

Rentals: Touring, skating, telemark, snowshoes, sleds
Lessons: Group lesson & trail pass & equipment available
Food: Two restaurants, four cafes
Trail fees are required.

Old Highway 40
Exit off 1-80
Soda Springs, CA
Phone: (530) 426-3871

Tahoe Donner

At Tahoe Donner, you can find trails for everyone, from your 92-year old grandmother (who will probably ski your pants off anyway) to the hammerhead hill-weasel you wish you really were. After a cruise through the mellow flat areas, you can climb sky-high and seemingly forever, or drop down into the Euer Valley, which provides a romantic countryside tour reminiscent of the world-class ski trails in Winthrop, WA.

Off Donner Pass Road
Truckee, CA
Phone: (530) 587-9484

Tahoe Donner Real Estate

100 rails, jumps and funboxes for every ability. 450-foot long superpipe, located off the Accelerator Express Quad Chair on the Race Course run. Boreal’s superpipe will be in-ground, offering an earlier target opening and a permanent foundation. Offers features from every lift at the resort, day and night. The only Northern California ski and snowboard resort to dedicate every run to park riders.

Boreal offers three sessions of beginner lessons a day, packages include a lift ticket, lesson and rental gear. While the parks may be the place to hone your skills, Boreal remains one of California’s best places to learn the sport, then learn to freeride and freeski in the parks from a dedicated staff of ski and snowboard instructors.

North Lake Tahoe > Homewood Mountain Resort Terrain Parks

Homewood Mountain Resort presents four new terrain parks offering adventure for all ability levels. Over 200 acres of parks with over 45 new features including boxes, rails, jumps, table tops and spines. We recently unveiled the largest box in the Sierras, a 40 foot monster!

Homewood's North Side features 2 terrain parks. Upper Lakeview Park is our beginner park area for entry level freestyle riders, located at the top of the Madden chair. Typical features include small jumps, rails, and funbox. Lower Lakeview Park highlights advanced jib park features including great rails for the experienced rail rider, with terrific photo opportunities of the lake. Shredwood Forest Park focuses on your air skills for slightly higher ability levels. Typical features include a spine, 15 foot tabletops, 25-45 foot tables, hip jump, and large rollers.

Homewood's South Side showcases two more terrific parks. Boardercross Course is an entry level boardercross race course. Good for all levels to sharpen their racing and jumping skills. Course features include rollers, 10 foot jump, hip jumps, and snow berms. El Capitan Park is Homewood Mountain's premier park for advanced riders and home to the 40 foot Shmonster Box. Other great features might include a 20+ foot street rail, 35-45 foot tables, 15-20 foot flat bars, flat-down rails, up-flat-down rails, and a 30 foot Fruit by the Foot box rail.

North Lake Tahoe > Northstar-at-Tahoe Terrain Parks

Transworld Snowboarding rates this as one of the top ten best parks and pipes in the 2006 resort poll, the park team at Northstar continues to deliver the goods. Acclaimed park designers Chris "Gunny" Gunnarson and Josh Chauvet of Snow Park Technologies, known for their work on the Winter X Games, Vans Tahoe Cup, and U.S. open Snowboarding Championships, have built six parks at Northstar with an amazing variety of jumps, hips, rails, and boxes, plus a halfpipe, and a 420-foot Superpipe.

Northstar and Burton Snowboards introduced the first ever Burton Progression Park. This park, the only one of its kind on the west coast, allows riders to test gravity at their own pace with rails and fun boxes located inches off the snow, along with gentle rolling jumps that allow riders to get the feeling of air for the first time. The Burton Progression Park, located on Sidewinder, was created to help park goers progress in a non-intimidating environment.

Current features include a 25-foot staircase feature by Matix Clothing, a gigantic 20’ wide by 8’ long DC Shoebox, an Amped 3 video game wallride and a crazy Dragon Optical octagon box. All of these features are located in the Moonshine and Pinball Parks.

Northstar-at-Tahoe offers something for everyone, featuring six Adventure Parks loaded with natural terrain features for kids of all ages. Each park is themed differently with colorful signs and animation. Don’t miss the Amped 3 Adventure Park loaded with big screen televisions with screen shots from the game and the Mine Shaft Adventure Parks with real log tunnels and ride on stacked log banks.

North Lake Tahoe > Squaw Valley USA Terrain Parks

Three terrain parks: Belmont, Riviera, and Ford Mainline Park are ready for action this season. In addition there is a Family Fun Park, consisting of berms and rollers, built to the right of Links. Also the boarder cross course that can be accessed from the Belmont or High Camp lifts has more of a slopestyle format with the addition of rails and boxes. For some, the most important addition to our terrain parks this season is our new pipe machine. Squaw Valley is proud to announce the recent purchase of a technologically advanced pipe cutter which will be pivotal in improving the condition of Mainline Park’s Ford Free-Style Super Pipe and the perceived quality of our parks.

Our parks are varied to cater to a range of park riding ability levels. With it’s smaller jumps, boxes, and rails Belmont is great for skiers and snowboarders who have recently begun riding park. For the more advanced park rats Riviera ("Riv") is great for night riding and perfecting one’s skills before Mainline park opens later in the season.

Riviera has two sets of medium sized jumps with two take offs for each, along with a half pipe that is 225 feet long, with 10 foot walls. The opening of the "big" park, Mainline Park, is more exciting for many Squaw enthusiasts than a super sick powder day. The park boasts a state-of-the-art superpipe, an assortment of 24 to 52 foot boxes and rails, and a variety of medium and big jumps. Mainline Park is maintained so well that it remains perfectly film-worthy from the peak of the season to the slushy end.

Super Pipe will boast 18 ½ foot walls at an 18 degree pitch, spanning 550 feet in length.

South Lake Tahoe > Heavenly High Roller Terrain Parks

Heavenly Mountain Resort offers skiers and riders four terrain parks and one super pipe all under the High Roller brand. The High Roller Parks are designed to help riders progress from beginner to expert, with features designed for each level. High Roller California is located off the Canyon chairlift on the California side and is for advanced riders. It is also the home for the South Shore Soldiers camp each spring.

High Roller Super Pipe is located at the top of the Powderbowl chairlift on the California side, and the largest superpipe in the Tahoe Basin carved by a monster 22-foot Zaugg pipe cutter, one of only two in North America. High Roller Stateline is located off the Tamarack chairlift on the California/Nevada border. It features medium-sized hits, rails and fun boxes for the experienced rider. High roller Nightlife is Heavenly's new nighttime terrain park, located off the World Cup chair at the California Lodge and open Thursday through Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. High Roller Nightlife will feature the quality hits, rails and funboxes that riders have come to expect from Heavenly's High Roller Terrain Parks, along with frequent rail jam competitions and a DJ spinning tunes. Low Roller is Heavenly's beginner park, located between Groove and Patsy's chairlifts on the California side.

South Lake Tahoe > Sierra-at-Tahoe Terrain Parks & Pipes

Six terrain parks, a 485-foot superpipe and a world-class halfpipe. Some of Tahoe’s most innovative rails, boxes and jibs and continually change up the park designs so riders never see the same park twice.

Sierra-at-Tahoe’s terrain parks offer a taste of the urban life with the resort’s version of city bus stops - Park Stops. The Park Stops feature a covered bench with tools for adjusting bindings, mini trail maps highlighting Sierra-at-Tahoe’s park "circuit," a sticker wall, and ski and snowboard magazines. Riders can rest and recharge for their next run in comfort and style.

To continue the trend of offering cutting edge freestyle terrain features, Sierra-at-Tahoe added a fleet of seven innovative rails and jibs to its parks. New features include: Two 15-foot straight rails; Two 15-foot straight boxes; One signature C-box; and Two large custom-designed boxes. Sierra’s parks are routinely mixed up for your riding pleasure and await your bag of tricks.

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