Joyce’s deep love of Hope Valley is personified in every detail of this symbolic mountain structure from its nostalgic Tahoe decor and local art to solar power. Yes, that’s right. The yurt is green! It uses solar power to produce all of the electricity.
The Hope Valley Outdoor Center is located at the Burnside Lake trail head, located at Pickett’s Junction in Hope Valley at the junction of highways 89 and 88. Throughout the winter Joyce grooms over 60 miles of marked trails. Joyce and the crew offer cross country skiing and snowshoe lessons and guided tours, and equipment rentals.
The yurt is open daily, and there are no trail fees. Instead, appreciative mountaineers are asked to make a donation to help Joyce offset her costs for maintaining the trails. Dogs are always welcome.
To help us experience Tahoe ski culture and to travel like Snowshoe Thompson across majestic Hope Valley, Joyce offers several full moon ski and snowshoe tours throughout the winter season.
For more info, click here to visit the website.
About Hope Valley:
After the Donner Party tragedy during the Big Winter of 1846, over 55,000 immigrants veered further south, choosing to come up from the Carson Valley through the canyon and over the Pass, eventually settling into California’s Central Valley and beyond. Hope Valley has seen little change since that time. Well-known by area photographers as the Aspens change color in the Fall, you can experience the transformation from mid-September through October, beginning up Monitor Pass to the east, working its way through lower elevations and finishing out on the western edge of Hope Valley. If you look carefully, you may still find some of the writings of Basque immigrants on the Aspens, though the writings will soon disappear, along with the old-growth trees themselves…
With some of the best untouched wilderness in the Sierra, you can experience the Carson River as it meanders through beautiful open valleys and colorful meadows, or hike up to the nearby peaks searching out the hidden lakes and streams while photographing the wildflower-strewn hillsides…