Homewood, California

Homewood ski resort is on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. This is the only resort in Tahoe where the runs end up close to the lakeshore at 6,230 ft.  This review is based on about 5 visits in many different conditions over a 10-year period, but the last visit was way back in 2006.

 

Update 2026

Since we visited last, Homewood upgraded a bit with a high speed quad replacing their most popular lift “The Quad” which has now become “Old Homewood Express”.  They have plans to replace the main chair out of the base “Madden” with a new gondola eventually.  Homewood is entirely on private properly and they intend to develop home sites on the mountain so the gondola supports that goal.

Homewood was on the Best 100 list at one point, but when we were refining the list in 2022 to pick the last few resorts, they announced that they were taking the resort private.  We couldn’t have a private resort on the list obviously, so we took it off.  This was bad timing because later they reversed course and now it is going to remain public.  Homewood is now on the list of resorts that didn’t make the top 100 list but deserves special mention as a great resort worth a visit if you can.

The lack of photos is because we last skied Homewood more than 20 years ago.  We’d like to go back and fix that but it’s honestly not worth the $200-250 lift ticket (weekends and holidays) to ski a relatively small mountain with aging facilities.  Homewood isn’t on any other pass so we may not ski there again until we are retired and can go back midweek when tickets are a reasonable $99.  I do have a couple of photos taken from the base areas though!

Stats and Rating

Real Vertical ?	1,650′
Size	1,260 Acres
Annual Snowfall ?	450″ claimed / 350″ actual
Lift Pods ?	5
Distinct Trails ?	49
Review Date	2001-2006
Number of visits	5
Our Rating	★★
Resort website	https://www.skihomewood.com

Review

Homewood is a very unique place with some compelling qualities that make it ski better than the stats suggest when conditions are good. The main extraordinary quality is the stunning view of Lake Tahoe from many of the runs. It’s hard to take your eyes off the lake as you make your way down the ridge. The other one is that the low elevation is great on a storm day to stay out of the wind. On days when many of the Tahoe resorts shut down due to wind, Homewood will probably be 100% open.

We started skiing there with the kids in 2001 because of the 2 for 1 lift ticket deals and discounts for kids that they offer. I remember skiing with the whole family for about $100 buying lift tickets at the window. The drive is a bit farther from the Bay Area though, because it is about mid-way up the lake on the west shore, so it’s a long-ish drive once you get off I-80 in Truckee, and you have to drive past Squaw and Alpine to get there. Later, we skied there with my parents who really liked it.  It’s a relatively quick drive from South Lake Tahoe when 89 is open.

The area has some nice groomers and black runs, but the runs are fairly short because the area is set up on a ridge and the lifts are shorter affairs falling off of that on either side. The Ellis triple and the Old Homewood Express quad chairs both access the summit and are the most popular. Both provide access to the best terrain at the top of the mountain. There are 2 other major lifts that access the two distinct base areas (these used to be 2 different ski areas), but that terrain is not as usable due to snow conditions and terrain shape.

The good

• The views of the lake cannot be beat.
• It is protected from the wind on a storm day.
• It’s generally uncrowded

The bad

• This is the lowest summit elevation of any California resort on our list, at only 7,880 feet. This is a big problem that is only becoming bigger with global warming, because in poor snow years they have really struggle to open and stay open due to lack of snow at the base. We skied there one (short) day in January where it was pouring rain all the way to the summit.
• Old lodges, mostly old lifts
• Lift ticket prices are WAY too high for a resort of this type (2026).  Regular prices are even more expensive than much more accessible higher altitude resorts like Sierra at Tahoe and Sugar Bowl.  Back before 2006 they sold cheap tickets at the window which was why it was a much more popular place back then.  The 2026 weekend and holiday ticket price of $200-$249 is a deal-breaker.  Plus there is a mandatory $10 add-on for parking.  It’s worth noting that if you are flexible, mid-week advanced tickets are as low as $99 ($109 with parking).  Lots of resorts are going to this type of pricing plan and it’s terrible for the average working family.  If there were huge weekend crowds this would make sense, but I drove by on a Saturday after recent snowfall and the parking lot was predictably empty.
• Along with ticket prices their season pass prices are high for a small area, and it’s an independent pass just for Homewood. So unless you are a nearby local I don’t see any reason why you would ever buy a season pass there.

The bottom line

Homewood is a fun / mellow / uncrowded place with great views that is worth doing when the snow is good and it’s cold.  The low elevation is a blessing on a storm day and a curse when it’s raining, so pick your days carefully and when the conditions are good it’s a fun place for a day of chill skiing.  Unfortunately their business model means very few people will ever be skiing there.  I really hope they change and go back to how it used to be with reasonable lift ticket prices because it’s close enough to our Tahoe house that we’d probably ski there a couple times a year.