Kirkwood Mountain Resort Reviews

Probably my new favorite resort to explore back country

Nice one I ski and I have been to the k mountain in my day back in the 80,s

Great advanced skiing and short lift lines. Easier than Tahoe, cheaper.

I think I would have rated this higher but we had a bad snow day. It was mostly ice and enough bare spots to be frustrating. The lines were good though, the staff was friendly enough and it was close to where I was staying so I can't be too mad. I wanna go back when it has snowed though!

Nice ski resort. There's a good amount of terrain, and it's less crowded than the typical Colorado resorts. It's about an hour from South Lake Tahoe and if it snows you need chains and/or all wheel drive to get there.

This place is great in the summer and winter! From hiking and mountain biking in the summer, to skiing and snowboarding in the winter, though it is not heavenly, it is still a part of the Vail family, which makes it a great place to come and check out! I highly recommend as the people make the experience top notch, just as much as the place itself

This is a fun, tough little mountain! Not much for greens!

I absolutely love Kirkwood and have been coming here for years! It's sad to see vail completely messing it up though. Less buerocracy would make kirkwood what it once was.

Best best best for winter..kids love it, we love it. A little Alpine place close to Bay Area

Best snow ever. Friendly staff. Crowded though, so you shouldn't come.

The place itself is very cool. But the resort equipment and lifts are very old and without foot rest bar. As the result your legs are very tired after couple of slopes. Also rental service definitely may be much faster, the process is very inefficient

This is our favorite resort in the whole Lake Tahoe area! It gets the most snow every season, and it never gets too crowded (not like Heavenly with 30 min waiting for a gondola) thanks to a imitated parking.
Be mindful of snowstorms, because cal-trans closes Carson pass when there is a lot of snowfall.

Very awesome mountain! Sometimes can be a pain to get to. Check road and weather conditions before driving up though. When the snow is falling heavy they tend to close the road. Drive safe and take your time. Have fun!

Love this place. Friendly helpful staff. Lots of snow. First time there, in and out was easy.

Great for exploring as it has a cool mix of groomed and easy to access ungroomed terrain. Best for intermediate and up skill levels. While there is some stuff for beginners, the magic of this mountain is exploring the more challenging terrain. My only gripe (and hence 4 stars not 5) is that most of the chair lifts are very slow. There is one big express but the rest are slow. Also the signage on the mountain (so you know which run you're going down) is fairly sparse... which for a new visitor can be challenging and you'll find yourself unfolding your little map on chairlifts etc. at least you're not rushed in doing so ;)

Needs a skate park but it's a great place to hike, disc golf, fishing. Great way to escape Tahoe crowds

Great mountain with "historic" amenities. I was glad I had full days here. With only one high speed quad serving the upper mountain it was rather inefficient to get around using the chairs systems from decades ago. The mountain will also be closes in early April because Vail corporation regards profits as more important the serving the community as loyal patrons.

The staff is about the friendliest in the business. I think they really makenan effort to be pleasant and accommodating. The snow wasn't good when I was here, so the skiing was a bit limited. As such, this is more of a review on the amenities.
South shore is about an hour or so away, and you climb two mountain passes in the process, so plan on leaving early. The roads can be icy, especially on the descent from the reservoir to the turn off to Kirkwood. Getting here from the Bay Area takes about the same amount of time that it takes me to get to to the North Shore, even though it is some 50-70 miles closer. Chalk that up to narrow, twisting roads to Kirkwood. Parking is a healthy hike along the road to the resort, so watch for ice patches and cars (with stairs you have to climb to get to the main deck/patio/courtyard of the resort - boo!). There is a shuttle that will take you to and from the parking lot to the main walkway to the resort (with fewer stairs). On one occasion, the shuttle drove right up to our car, which was really nice! Alternatively, you can pay for premium parking, but you also have to get there early enough to take advantage of it as it fills quickly.
There is one grab and go cafeteria on the far side of the resort, and a couple of sit-down restaurants right off the lifts. Picnic tables abound outside on the patio, and there is one fire pit that is usually well-attended. Inside seating is severely limited in the cafeteria, so getting a table is out of the weather can be a matter of timing. So far as I could tell, there was no other inside seating available unless you went to the restaurant.
There weren't any real lines at the lifts, but they aren't the fastest available, so most of your waiting is in the chair.
One word of warning: there is not much more than the resort at Kirkwood. Don't expect a grocery store; I didn't even see a gas station (though maybe I just missed that). So bring what you need, because everything else is at least an hour away.

Great summertime hiking and biking trails. Be aware of Very limited food options Monday - Friday.

Great mountain, great pass check system. Old and slow lifts

Awesome runs, great food, happy hour after 3:30, up to date chair lifts

This was the worst place I've ever stayed. The condo was old and smelly. I felt very unsafe. No lighting at entrance. My room door could of easy been opened from the outside. Just gross! Like the Bates motel. They should also tell you there are no food options available. Don't go there!!!

I love kirkwood, better snow than most of tahoe and honest daily reports

great mountain, if only they can install more express lifts

Great ski resort overall. Food options are poor and overpriced though, as is typical of most ski resorts...

Nice slopes, and classes were pretty good. The food is overpriced, so packing lunch is recommended

Mountain was pretty good but the other resorts around it are better. Lifts were kinda slow but overall a pretty good time.

My favorite place to ski. Now that Vail owns the place, you can buy your tickets online before you arrive. This really reduces the wait time for you to get on the slopes. Get to the backside for great, long runs

Always a great challenge to my skills to board here. Staff is always awesome, and the runs are best in the region.

Great skiing! We really enjoyed our time at Kirkwood. It was snowing the whole time. Plenty of parking near lifts was available.

Great Skiing area! Lots of diversity in the slope difficulty. Good snow and you can find a slope with sun on it all day long. Short waits at the lifts. The skiing lessons are awesome. We used lessons for toddlers, kids and a beginner lesson for grown ups. The pricing for lessons and lift tickets is on the higher end but still fair. Both kids made impressive progress during their lessons, the toddler went from first time on skis to the first real lift within one day.

I reduce by one star because when it comes to food, lodging, or buying/renting something things get bizarre. As awesome the skiing instructors are as horrible is the staff in the resort lodge and the resort restaurants, also some of the administrative staff just don't want to help. For example three yo ride for free but still need a lift ticket, actually easy process but we needed to find the right person (thanks to Gina at the lesson registration desk!!) to simply do it. The person in the season pass office claimed it was not possible at all and sent us off. Literally everything costs double the price it would cost in a normal store in the next town, but you get a big deal of attitude with your credit card receipt.

Tip: If you are sent off by unhelpful staff try to find a different person to help. The quality among the service staff is very diverse.

Beautiful terrain.. nearest to bay area.. advanced and intermediate skiers paradise

Don't go to Kirkweed. You will either fall off a cliff, get buried by avalanche, or get beat up by territorial locs - either way you will die. You also have to cross the most dangerous mountain pass in California to get there, not worth it people, better play it safe and ski heavenly instead.

I like Kirkwood a lot. Having bought as Tahoe Epic Pass, you have 3 Tahoe resorts included: Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood.
Heavenly would be heaven (by Tahoe standards) if it wasn't so crowded (I guess heavens are generally crowded).
Northstar is my favorite, it has the best ratio of number of runs port number of people. But it's further from the Bay area and they say it's more vulnerable to weather conditions. Three parking is not ideal neither (you generally have to take a shuttle).
Kirkwood is the least crowded and the smallest. It's old and there is only one express lift (Cornice) besides the all-green Timber Creek express. It's the closest to the Bay area. The parking is usually not hard, you can get a spot a walking distance from the lifts.
So Northstar and Kirkwood hey five stars. Heavenly gets 4 stars for too many people.
And if you go outside California (e.g. Park City in Utah) that's a whole new level. We're still lucky in the Bay area that we have access to very nice resorts in a driving distance.

Great resort if you want to avoid the larger crowds that typically flock to the resorts closer to Lake Tahoe.

Sat in stopped traffic today for many hours to reach Kirkwood. Finally inched to the entrance and some cop was turning around all cars because Kirkwood is full. No notice or sign of any kind at the turnoffs or even the message boards which said "carry chains for Kirkwood!" This has happened to me before, so I was calling Kirkwood and checking their website for any information or updates, but none was provided. I lost an entire day and could have skied at any other resort if I gone elsewhere. I recommend anyone who reads this to go elsewhere.

Went on a Wednesday at the end of November, and the snow was better than I expected! I enjoyed the terrain, and the lack of lift lines was incredible!

10/10 will go again.

2019 Kirkwood Banked Slalom, 2nd place snowskate , Dwayne Davis

Everything you'd expect from a snow day. The staff made all the difference

Went here because it had the most snow of the epic pass mountains. We were not disappointed. There are trails for riders of all levels!

Kirkwood is great. Summer or winter. Lots to do and whole lot less people than Lake Tahoe.

Room was simple, but very adequate. Very nice to be able to have a few drinks after a day of mountain biking without having to worry about driving home. We still probably stay again in the winter for snowboarding

Kirkwood is the best ski resort in the Tahoe area, in my opinion. There's always great snow, a large variety of runs, short lines and all for much lower lift ticket prices than other big resorts in the area. The only issue I've had with Kirkwood is that lodging options around the resort are quite limited.

No snow this year, but a great place place for a wedding.

I like this resort. The blue run is not that broad and long like Heavenly. Also It has magic carpet for beginners.

Always awesome to ski this mountain... offering terrain for all levels

I've been coming to K for close to 20 years. If you advanced to expert level skier/snowboarder K offers one of the best terrains in Tahoe area. The Wall / Wagonwheel bowl is a skier paradise!

Super nice place! We got stranded in a snow storm while driving a Scion. Not smart I know, but the storm came out of nowhere. This place was so nice and let us stay in a room for free. Wow!

We got stranded in the snowstorm yesterday and ended up staying in the red cliff day lodge. They offered us sleeping bags and blankets. Everyone from the tractor operator clearing snow, the security guards were so helpful and went out of their way to accommodate us even though we were not "hotel"guests.I give them all 10 stars. I never snow boarded in Kirkwood but will now just because my experience with the staff in a stressful situation was excellent. Thank you Kirwoodians!

On the pricey side but never too crowded and the weather was perfect. An ideal place to celebrate New Year's eve with the family!

Fresh powder all the times I've been with great runs.

Beautiful lunch will watching skiers and snowboarders.

Awesome resort..far enough away where you don't get long lines for lifts like heavenly...parking was easy to find..the runs can't be beat. Solitude and the wall were awesome. Great staff kept lift seats dry and moving quickly. food a little pricey but you can bring your own lunch. Lodge is a bit packed during lunch but same goes for all the resorts.

This is where kings are created and the powder is endless. Ski Kirkwood has something for everyone from gnarly ski terrain, bunny slopes, to hot tubs for all likes. The views are incredible of volcanic rocks to old glacial paths. Check out this spot for the most memorable adventures.

Lovely resort for skiing and spending an awesome winter day. The road to the resort is also well maintained and safe.

I am used to European resort. This one is kinda small, there is few lift but the runs were good

A great place to ski! Love the new epic lift ticket!!

Kirkwood is own of the best mountains in Tahoe. No question. My favorite. However, don't come here for great amenities. If you like upscale resort living go to Northstar or Squaw

I came here to ride the backside which is mainly blue square runs. It's also not as crowded too which is a plus for me. Let's ride between the trees and hang out in a cave.

Great local feel compared to many of the other Tahoe resorts.