Castle Peak is a beautiful mountain area to explore.  It is located on the summit across from Boreal Ski area.  Take Exit 176 and park at the snow park on the south side of the freeway.  The trailhead is on the North side of the freeway.  The trail climbs its way up to the base of Castle Peak and leads to a Bally that houses the Peter Grubb Sierra club hut.

Carpenter Valley is located off Alder Creek on the back entrance into the Tahoe Donner neighborhood.  This beautiful valley is fairly flat and meander through the woods for about 2 miles before you get to a gate.  Tis property was recently acquired and is now protected by the Donner Land trust.  To get to the trailhead take Hwy 89 north, turn left onto Alder Creek road.  Go about 3 miles and there is pull out on the right.  They do plow an parking area but sometimes it takes a few days after a storm.  

Glacier Way parking area is located at the top of Tahoe Donner.  This is a great place to snowshoe or Cross country ski.  There are wonderful views but this area is more exposed and gets very windy if there is any weather brewing.  To get there take Northwoods to ski slope and follow ski slope to the top and turn onto Glacier way.  Parking area is on the left.

Donner Lake Memorial Park is a beautiful place to either cross country ski or snowshoe.  To get there take Donner Pass Road to Donner Lake and Park at the Donner Lake State Park.  They groom these trails occasionally so conditions are variable.  There are picnic tables and beautiful trails that lead through the campground and to the lake.

Deep Creek is a beautiful canyon that climbs its way deep into the forest.  The trailhead is located off Hwy 89 south towards Olympic Valley. It is about 4 miles south of Truckee.  Park on the left (East) side of the highway and cross the road to the trail which is on the West side of the road

Pole Creek is the last big drainage before you get to Olympic Valley.  This beautiful valley meanders up through the trees towards the Sierra Crest.  At about 2.5 miles there is a bridge that crosses over the creek.  Travel another 3.5 miles to the Sierra Club owned Bradley Hut.  This is a winter backcountry hut that must be reserved through the Sierra Club.  This hut provides a great base camp for a multi-day backcountry skiing adventure!

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Mount Rose Meadows is off Highway 431 out of Incline Village.  This area gets early season snow and is one of the highest elevation open space areas around -which means best coverage in the early and late season.  Nevada nordic is a non-profit organization that grooms a trail network in the area to promote Nordic skiing.  Check them out at

 nevadanordic.org

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