Parking Operations

With record-breaking snowfall this January, skiers and riders from the Tahoe area and beyond are flocking to the mountains to take advantage of the prime conditions. With all this enthusiasm AND over 23 feet of snow in January, parking lots have been reaching capacity at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows on weekends & holidays. Please check out our parking tips, resources and what we’re working on to improve the parking situation.

Weekend Parking Tips 

1. Arrive early:

If you’re planning to ski or ride Friday-Sunday, try to arrive before the mountains open to ensure convenient parking and to beat traffic. You can kick back and grab coffee or a bite to eat at the following restaurants while you gear up for the slopes:

Squaw Valley

• Wildflour Bakery: opens at 7am
• Starbucks in the Village: opens at 7am
• Mountain Nectar: opens at 7:30am
• Euro Snack & Euro Crepe: open at 7am

Alpine Meadows

• Treats Cafe in the breezeway: opens at 7am
• Early Ups in the Lodge: opens at 8am

2. Carpool

We strongly encourage carpooling with friends, family and neighbors. With our POW Carpool Parking, vehicles with 4 or more passengers will have access to close-in parking spots. There are 110 POW Parking spaces at Squaw Valley and 50 at Alpine Meadows, and they are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

3. Use Public Transportation

The TART (Truckee-Tahoe Regional Transit) offers regular daily shuttles to and from Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. 

And FREE Nightly service from Squaw Valley to Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay, Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach and Crystal Bay:

Parking Resources

Where to Check Parking Status

We have several resources to notify guests when parking lots fill at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. Please tune in to the following resources for updates:

• Mobile App: Download our mobile app and enable notifications. You will receive a push notification as soon as we know that parking has reached capacity.
• Mountain Operations Twitter: Follow us at @SquawAlpineOps on Twitter for real-time updates on lift, trail and parking status. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still read these public tweets at twitter.com/squawalpineops.
• Lift & Trail status page: We update “Today’s Word” on this page when there is pertinent information regarding lifts, trails, or parking status. It is located on the page in between maps and lift status and looks like this:

We can all agree that our time is better spent on the slopes rather than sitting in traffic or looking for parking! Here are some of the efforts we’ve made to improve the situation: 

• Snow Removal: Clearing out 23+ feet of snow in January has proven to be a massive project. Our crews have been working around the clock to plow and remove snow from the parking lots and roads. In addition to our own full-time staff and equipment, Palisades Tahoe has contracted additional laborers and outside contractors to help with snow removal and exporting snow from the parking lots via trucks in efforts to free up more parking spaces.
• Additional Parking: We have secured more off-site parking than ever before for Palisades Tahoe including parking at Squaw Valley Chapel, Lot 4, Deer Park and Hidden Valley. 
• Chariot Transit: In efforts to mitigate parking & traffic over the holidays, we partnered with Chariot to offer a pilot program for free intra-valley transportation that is easily scheduled via mobile app. We are continuing to work with Chariot to determine the best ways to make this transit program a more effective and permanent fixture here. 
• Carpool Parking: We initiated POW Carpool Parking last season in an effort to promote carpooling and efficient transportation in the region, reduce our carbon footprint, and raise awareness about how transportation contributes to climate change.
• Collaboration with local public transit: Palisades Tahoe continues to support and work with Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Agency (TNT/ TMA) to expand public transportation to and from our resorts and around the greater Truckee & North Lake Tahoe area.