Iron Mountain SnoPark

The scenery is outstanding and it is very quite. There is a lot of debris from when the lifts operated but closed in 1995. The snow park still exists but operates from November 1st to May 30th.
You have access to numerous big lakes like Silver and Caples, also small ones like Woods. Fishing, boating, kayaking, paddle boarding and swimming close by at the lakes.
There are so many trails nearby from short ones to overnight hikes.
There is no water or other facilities. You need to be self contained. No tents.
The elevation here is 7345 feet.
In winter you need a snow park pass ??? according to a website.
Verizon coverage was poor but we have a booster and could stream movies. Numerous channels with an antenna.

The 2020 limited opening of Eldorado NF after all CA-NF’s closed because of fire danger only allowed this “Dispersed Camping” area to open. Feeling the need for a mountain fix, we landed here.
There is the rubble from the ski area that closed down in 1993. (see pictures. Lots of flat areas with amazing views. There are the tourists who walk and climb what is left of the infrastructure. Woke up Saturday morning to a few deer hunting crews. Besides that this time of year is peaceful, cool, and a great place to hangout and explore lakes and the NF.

lots of areas to find some shade in normal times. A rough road leads down slope where a small trailer went.

There are 3 escape routes off the mountain of there was to be the need. We confirmed all other boondocking areas are closed at the moment.

if you have a Verizon MIFI, you can snatch a 4G signal to stream etc.

Very nice spot. Super easy to get to, big rigs will definitely fit here and there is lots of space to turn around. All pavement, at least the area we stayed.

There was a pit toilet, which was surprisingly clean. There was some toilet paper but not much, so make sure you have some of your own just in case.

You need a permit from November 1st to May 30th.

1 bar of t-mobile here and there. Pretty spotty tho. With our booster we were able to send texts.

We drove through the site yesterday, 4 June 2024, in our Jeep to check it out since Mormon Emigrant Trail (MET) had just opened the day before. Unfortunately the disastrous 2021 Caldor Fire has altered everything for miles around this site. It burned and completely killed massive areas of forest along MET. Dead trees are being logged, and the Iron Mountain site is being used to store logs and organic debris. A loader was removing organic debris into huge transport trucks in the old parking lot near the highway which was the primary camping area. Many of the other areas on the site are stacked high with logs awaiting removal.

It is uncertain how long the logging of burned dead trees will go on. There are massive active logging operations on MET. Best to avoid this site for the foreseeable future.

As you drive west on MET from Highway 88, you are afforded expansive views of the horrible devastation from the 2021 Caldor Fire. It will be many decades, if not a century, before these forests are regrown. So sad.