Comments on: Best Tahoe resort for snowshoeing and snowboarding?

Question: Best Tahoe resort for snowshoeing and snowboarding?

benzenedream — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:01:36 -0800

I'm looking for a resort in Tahoe that has both (a) good beginner snowboarding trails and (b) snowshoe trails. Nice to haves: group snowshoe outings and snowshoe rentals.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:12:06 -0800

If you're willing to drive a bit, Tahoe Meadows up near Mt. Rose is excellent for snowshoeing -- and it's free. Directions.

You can also snowshoe around Camp Richardson. A good stretch of the bike trail that runs along 89 is open for snowshoeing/x-country.

If you're on the north shore, head up 89 from Tahoe City towards Truckee. There are several of places along there where you can access the Western States Trail. Again, for free.

Donner State Park has trails, too, but they charge a $7 day use fee.

(I looked into trails recently, and the resorts charge you anywhere from $16 to $28 for snowshoeing on their groomed trails. Why, basically? You can go lots of other places for free.)

By: oblio_one

oblio_one — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:13:01 -0800

Tahoe is somewhat separated into two sections, North Shore (Nevada) and South Shore (Cali / State line) You should specify for best answer.

In South Shore, Kirkwood and Heavenly are both excellent and fit your needs.
Northstar is nice too.

By: mmascolino

mmascolino — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:59:47 -0800

On an early question I gave a response for beginner skiing at Tahoe and I stand by that for boarding as well: Northstar would be great, Squaw Valley wouldn't. Northstar definitely has a Nordic center that rents X-Country skis and snowshoes. I even tried the cross country trails and couldn't get a hang of it but I do remember there being a lot trails and the scenery was beautiful.

By: fshgrl

fshgrl — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:28:45 -0800

Homewood is a good choice for beginners. It's cheap and un-intimidating and near parks for snowshoeing. It's on the western shore and readily accessible to both North and South. Kirkwood, imho is not great for beginners, the blue runs are too long and flat and it's higher altitude than most resorts which will kick your ass if you're not used to it.

Don't go snowboarding at Mt Rose unless you really like moguls a lot.

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:10:31 -0800

Yeah, I'll stand by my own response in the thread mmascolino linked to above, agree with him/her, and say Northstar. It's a great place for people who want to go skiing/riding but maybe aren't super-serious (or want to bring their friends or relatives that aren't).