Loon Lake Chalet
1Heads up1 fire 35 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Loon Lake Chalet is situated next to Loon Lake in a granite bowl, and offers year-round, drive-to access for excellent backcountry skiing and hiking. The three-story chalet boasts excellent views of the Sierras and the lake. Though the chalet looks fancy, guests should not not expect hotel luxuries, but rather a semi-rustic experience. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District built the chalet in 1989, originally intended as a day-use winter facility. Due to public demand, the second floor warming room was made available for overnight rental, and a third floor was soon added. Keep reading
Recreation
Popular summer activities include hiking, backpacking in Desolation Wilderness, fishing, mountain biking, horseback riding and off-road driving on the 22-mile Rubicon 4WD Trail. Anglers delight in rainbow and brown trout, while boaters head out for thrilling water skiing on Loon Lake. In winter, the chalet is the focal point of the Loon Lake Winter Recreation Area, which offers many miles of non-groomed backcountry skiing trails.
Facilities
The chalet has three levels and can accommodate up to 20 guests. It features a large deck off the second floor with a wide stairway accessing the parking area. Vault toilets are attached to the building but are accessed from outside. The bottom floor is the ski patrol room(no public use), the second floor is the common liviing room and the third floor is the sleeping loft. The sleeping loft is equipped with 12 twin size sleeping pads to be placed on the floor when used and stacked up neatly upon check out. Electricity plus hot and cold water are provided. Garbage service is offered in summer months. The warming room has electric heat and is equipped with picnic tables, benches, a queen-sized futon couch, two wood couches, a gas fireplace and small dryer. The kitchen contains a double sink, hot and cold water, a range top stove, microwave oven and a small under-the-counter refrigerator. Miscellaneous pots and pans are provided but guests are encouraged to bring their own. Additional tables and benches are outside on the deck. No showers are available. Guests should bring food, sleeping bags, plates, drinking glasses and utensils, garbage bags, flashlights, maps and a compass, first aid supplies and tire chains. Electrical outlets may be used for crock pots, microwaves, coffeemakers, electric frying pans and similar small appliances. Click here for more information about the chalet.
Natural Features
The chalet is nestled in the forest on the western edge of Loon Lake at an elevation of 6,348 feet. The lake spans 76,200 acres. Sub-alpine red fir and lodgepole forests, granite bowls and a spectacular view of the Crystal Range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains characterize the area.
Nearby Attractions
The nearest general store is an hour away at Ice House Reservoir. In winter, the nearest town with a general store is about two hours away in Pollock Pines.
What the agency tells you
Guests must contact the ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST at (530) 644-2324 to arrange for permit, access, check-in and to learn about current conditions
In order to provide an enjoyable and memorable experience to all visitors, a stay limit of days per calendar year is now in effect. Use of any Eldorado National Forest cabins is limited to 6 nights per recreation rental facility and a total of 12 nights per calendar year. This time limit includes any combination of stays in Harvey West Cabin, Loon Lake Chalet, Robbs Hut, Sly Guard Cabin and Van Vleck Bunkhouse
Bring tire chains in winter; roads are not plowed on weekends and holidays
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Cellular phone service is not available at the Loon Lake Chalet. Cell coverage might be available depending on phone carrier 1-3 miles from the Chalet on Icehouse rd. From the Chalet parking lot, turn right on to Icehouse rd. and proceed to drive 1-3 miles and cell service might be available.
Winter conditions can occur from September through June and may provide visitors with challenging weather, affecting access and amenities
In winter, this is a 'pack it in, pack it out' facility. There is no trash service, so please bring garbage bags and remove all trash from Loon Lake Chalet before departing
Nearest phone is 2 miles northwest at the Kyburz store
Off-road vehicles may only be used on designated trails
No pets allowed in building
Bears frequent the area; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
For current weather conditions and fire restriction status, click here
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
Permitted use of Loon Lake Chalet is limited to six (6) days per year.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric, 1 water
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…stairway accessing the parking area. Vault toilets are attached to the building but are accessed from…”
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “No showers are available.”
- Store
- Nearby
- Stay limit
- 6 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Winter sports
- Fall color · reported 6 days ago, 17 km away
- No change
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| AREA LOON LAKE CHALET | 1 | cabin electric | 219 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Loon LakeEldorado National Forest · 0.6 miNorthshore CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 1.4 mi
Northshore Campground - Loon Lake (CA)Eldorado National Forest · 1.4 miRed Fir Group CampgroundEldorado National Forest · 1.5 mi
RED FIREldorado National Forest · 1.6 miTake Highway 50 east of Placerville for 21 miles to Icehouse Road turnoff. Turn left and go 25 miles north to a fork in the road. Take the right fork 6 miles. Pass the Loon Lake Campground turn-off, then go 3/4 of a mile to the chalet.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Tahoma, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 59°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 21°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Loon Lake Chalet is in California’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Kevin Kiley (I), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →