Chickadee Ridge
Tahoe Meadows / Mount Rose · near Incline Village · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Nordic & Snowshoe
At a glance
- Best season
- Dec–Mar after snow; birds most active on calm, clear days
What is here
- Activities
- snowshoe
- Setting
- forest
- Amenities
- Hand-feeding wild chickadees · Short, easy snowshoe · High, reliable snow · Tahoe Meadows access
- Best for
- A whimsical, magical family snowshoe
- Features
- Chickadees land on your hand · Easy, short snowshoe · Beloved local secret · Reliable high-elevation snow
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Off-trail route finding (no marked trail) · High elevation & cold · Use only unsalted seed (or none) — feed responsibly · Storms & whiteouts on the open ridge
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Guides, rentals and operators
- Rentals
- No
Nordic & Snowshoe detail
- Venue
- backcountry
- Ability
- beginner
- Snow
- 4
- Trail notes
- A magical, easy snowshoe near Tahoe Meadows where wild mountain chickadees flit down to land on your outstretched hand — a beloved local secret and pure winter delight
- Terrain note
- ~8,000 ft ridge; short off-trail snowshoe; reliable Mount Rose snow
- Intl tip
- One of California's most enchanting winter outings — a short, easy snowshoe above Tahoe Meadows (Mount Rose Hwy) to a stand of trees whose mountain chickadees land on your open hand. Hold still with a few seeds (or empty-handed) and these tiny, fearless birds alight on your fingers — pure delight for kids and adults. Gentle route from the Tahoe Meadows Sno-Park; reliable high snow (~8,700 ft). No marked trail (bring a map/track prints), mind cold and open-ridge whiteouts, and if you feed, use only plain unsalted seed, sparingly. A magical local secret.
- Nickname
- Where the chickadees land on your hand
The guide
Tucked into the forest above Tahoe Meadows on the Mount Rose Highway is one of the most enchanting winter outings in California…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Chickadee Ridge — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.31, -119.9