Our dream: a regional winter wonderland

Imagine having the most fantastic Nordic area in the Western United States as your own back yard - a mecca for skiers, snowshoers, and family snow play - a terrain of meadows, lakes, trees, and ridges, where both easy and hard backcountry travel exists in harmony with groomed Nordic trails and where families of all ages and walks of life can happily sled on hillsides and build snow sculptures. All this can be yours through Snowlands Network's dream for the Washoe Winter Wonderland on the Mount Rose Highway.

The Washoe Winter Wonderland is a plan to make the greater Tahoe Meadows area a destination for all muscle-powered winter recreation. Already closed to snowmobile use are the south side of the highway at Tahoe Meadows, the Galena Creek area and the Mount Rose Wilderness. Soon the 777-acre privately owned Incline Lake property will become public, and advocates for muscle-powered winter recreation are working toward making this area and Tahoe Meadows north of the highway non-motorized.

The Incline Village General Improvement District is purchasing five of the 777 acres with plans to construct a Nordic center there and connect it to Incline Village with groomed trails.

For decades this area has been a favorite crosscountry-ski, snowshoe, and snow-play area for residents and visitors to the Tahoe and Reno areas.

Today over 40,000 winter visitors play in this area - 38,000 of them skiers, snowshoers, and snow players. Snowlands Network is working with other organizations, agencies, and officials to ensure that their dream of a mecca for muscle-powered winter recreation comes to fruition - the Washoe Winter Wonderland.

Marcus Libkind, chair, Snowlands Network
Snowlands Network is an organization promoting opportunities for quality human-powered winter recreation and protecting winter wildlands.