Near: Donner Pass
Trip Type: XC-Ski (groomed)
Elevation: 6700 ft
Distance: 3-5 Kilometers
Surface: Snow
Vegetation: Forest and Meadow
If you want to skate ski with a your dog on a groomed track system, you should move to the midwest. I mean really, there are a few options in California, but they're not great. The least bad option we've skied so far is Royal Gorge. They've opened a few trails in their Van Norden Track system to dogs. The trails are short and flat so great for beginner skiers and locals out for a half hour of exercise with their dogs, but debatably worth the drive from the Bay Area. The limited trails are compounded by the fact that the three times we've been there the website has claimed that trails were open that clearly hadn't been groomed in the last few storms. Grooming in general at Royal Gorge is substandard and I've never seen even half of their trails open when I've been there. So if you plan to split a group up off and on to give the dog-less party a chance to experience some terrain, be warned that you'll have far fewer options than the Royal Gorge website will claim. That being said, the terrain around Royal Gorge is beautiful, the snow is plentiful and at least the management is making *some* effort to court the dog owner market so they deserve credit for that.
Links:
Other ski areas with limited dog skiing:
Tahoe-Donner XC (8:30-9:30 AM only weekends and then 2.5 boring kilometers. Dogs are banned on popular holidays. Are you serious??!!! Why even bring it up if you're going to be such jerks?)
Tahoe XC (~8K open to dogs on Sundays. 8:30-9:45 AM and 3-5 PM on Saturdays and holidays). We haven't checked this place out as so far most of the chance we've had to go skiing were on Saturday, but if you've got a free Sunday, then trails here may top Royal Gorge.
Spooner Lake: This old ski area on the east shore of Lake Tahoe has been shutdown for a few years, but in 2016 a group of nordic enthusiasts brought it back into operation. I hope it lasts as they seem relatively dog friendly. A leash is required at Spooner Lake, but other than that they haven't stipulated many regulations. Some recent posts on their website suggest to me they've got unrealistic expectations on the how pristine you can keep mixed-use XC trails though, so I fear more restrictions will come into force in the future.
Getting There:
Head east on 80 towards Donner Pass. Take the Soda Springs exit (#174) and drive east on Donner Pass road towards Sugar Bowl (downhill ski resort). At Soda Springs road you'll see a sign directing you towards Royal Gorge Summit station. You'll drive pass the Van Norden track system on your left as you drive another mile or so up to the summit station where you can buy trail passes and rent skis. Fido will have to wait in the car while you take care of those transactions though, as dogs aren't allowed in the chalet. They don't like dogs on the connecting trails from the summit station to Van Norden System (why they can't designate the connector trail a dog trail I don't know) so you'll have to drive back down to the Van Norden Trail head.
The Route:
The three times we've been there the only designated dog trail that has been groomed was "Snoop's Loop", which heads out along Lake Van Norden (not clear to me if this lake is anything more than a meadow anymore) and into some woods between Lake Van Norden and the downhill ski village. An unwelcoming sign near the ski village warns that you're piddly little dog XC ski pass doesn't get Fido into the downhill ski village. You need a DIFFERENT pass for that. I mean really, it's not that I want to be so negative about California XC ski areas, but they seem like they're actively trying to be unfriendly to dog owners even as they put pictures of happy dogs on all their advertising material. It's the bait and switch that really pisses me off.
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