# Carson River Resort

> Family-run cabins, riverside RV sites and camping on the East Fork Carson River, two and a half miles south of Markleeville, Alpine County, California, at 5,530 feet. Open year-round since 1920. Dogs welcome everywhere. The state stocks the river out front with trout from May through October. 12399 Highway 89, Markleeville, CA 96120 · (530) 694-2229 · store open 8am–6pm daily.

Key facts:

- Lodging: seven cabins, each sleeps four, all on the river; fifteen RV spaces with full hookups (20/30/50-amp, water, sewer), big rigs fit; eleven riverside sites with no hookups that take a tent or an RV. Free showers. A Harvest Hosts site.
- Booking: online request form at any hour, or by phone. No minimum stay. Check-in 2pm, check-out 11am. Deposit is half the stay. Current rates are only on the Rates page.
- Dogs: welcome in every cabin and site. Cabins carry a flat $30 cleaning fee per visit; no charge for dogs when camping.
- Tax and fees: 14% Alpine County lodging tax on cabins only, none on camping. $25 fee on a cancelled reservation, or the full amount held as credit with no fee.
- Connectivity: free Wi-Fi; essentially no cell reception.
- Fishing: the state plants rainbow trout and Heenan-strain Lahontan cutthroat in the stretch at the resort; below Hangman's Bridge, a mile downstream, the river is unplanted wild water.
- Getting here: about 50 minutes from South Lake Tahoe. Monitor Pass (Hwy 89) and Ebbetts Pass (Hwy 4) close in winter; from about November to May come in through Woodfords on Hwy 88/89.
- General store on site: the last services before either pass — tackle and live bait, firewood, propane, ice, groceries.
- Formerly known as East Fork Resort.

## Machine-readable

- [Index](https://carsonriverresorts.com/api/agent/index.json): everything below, in one manifest
- [Facts](https://carsonriverresorts.com/api/agent/facts.json): address, hours, connectivity, access; each fact with its source and the day it was checked
- [Units](https://carsonriverresorts.com/api/agent/units.json): cabins, riverside sites and RV spaces with filterable attributes and a booking link each
- [Policies](https://carsonriverresorts.com/api/agent/policies.json): check-in, deposit, cancellation, tax, dogs, minimum stay
- [River report](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/report.json): live East and West Fork flow and the latest fish plants
- [Fish plantings](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/plants.json): every recorded CDFW planting in Alpine County waters, by week ([CSV](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/plants.csv))
- [River flow](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/flow.csv): seven days of hourly flow from the USGS gauges
- The fish files are CC BY 4.0 (credit Carson River Resort). The readings underneath are CDFW and USGS government data; the license covers the resort's compilation. The stories are not licensed: short quotes are welcome with a link back.
- [Timeline](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/timeline.json): the dated history on /story as data
- [Places](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/places.json): people, places and events the stories name, linked to Wikidata, with cited coordinates
- MCP server: https://carsonriverresorts.com/mcp (read-only, Streamable HTTP, no sign-in). Tools: resort_facts, list_units, policies, rates, river_today, booking_link, history. Rates are the published ones on https://carsonriverresorts.com/rates; the booking page confirms the price at checkout
- [The Facts](https://carsonriverresorts.com/facts): the same, as a page
- Booking link: https://carsonriverresorts.com/book?cabin=<unit id or camping>&in=YYYY-MM-DD&out=YYYY-MM-DD&partySize=N (camping also takes site=1-11 and use=rv|tent). It prefills the form; it does not hold or book anything.
- Most pages answer `Accept: text/markdown` with their own text.

## Stay

- [Home](https://carsonriverresorts.com/): cabins, riverside RV sites and camping on the East Fork Carson River outside Markleeville
- [Stay](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay): all cabins and sites, with what each one is like
- [RV & Camping](https://carsonriverresorts.com/rv-camping): the hookup row and the riverside sites
- [Rates](https://carsonriverresorts.com/rates): current prices and every fee
- [Book](https://carsonriverresorts.com/book): request a stay online
- [Dogs](https://carsonriverresorts.com/dogs): the dog policy
- [FAQ](https://carsonriverresorts.com/faq): check-in, deposits, cancellation, tax, Wi-Fi, winter access
- [Practical](https://carsonriverresorts.com/practical): driving, passes, weather, what to bring
- [Map](https://carsonriverresorts.com/map): the resort and its surroundings
- [General Store](https://carsonriverresorts.com/general-store)
- [The pavilion](https://carsonriverresorts.com/pavilion): open-air pavilion by the store — covered patio, grills, fire pit, fish-cleaning station; for guests and events
- [Camp Stargaze](https://carsonriverresorts.com/camp-stargaze): dispersed hilltop campsites above the resort under dark skies, booked by phone

## The cabins

All on the East Fork, full kitchens, dogs welcome, open year-round; each is named for a piece of local history.

- [The Waystation](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/waystation): cabin №2, named for the toll-road waystation
- [The Alpine](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/alpine): cabin №3, named for the silver-fever county
- [The Monitor](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/monitor): cabin №4, named for the vanished mining town up Loope Canyon
- [Silver Creek](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/silver-creek): cabin №5, named for Kongsberg's miners and the log-drive creek
- [Lord & Lady Chalmers](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/lord-and-lady-chalmers): cabin №6, named for "Lord" Chalmers and for Nettie, who waited
- [River Cabin](https://carsonriverresorts.com/stay/river-cabin): cabin №7, the porch view of the East Fork; its story runs through the Whitneys and the Carson King fly

## Fishing

- [Fish](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish): the East Fork at the resort, regulations, flows and fish-plant alerts
- [River report](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/report): live flow and the latest state plantings, rebuilt every half hour
- [Fish history](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/history): stocking records on this water
- [Heenan Lake](https://carsonriverresorts.com/heenan-lake): the catch-and-release Lahontan cutthroat lake
- [The Carson King](https://carsonriverresorts.com/fish/carson-king): the dry fly named for the East Fork Carson — its history and dressing

## Things to do nearby

- [Explore](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore): hiking, cycling, rafting, skiing, geology, wildlife
- [Grover Hot Springs](https://carsonriverresorts.com/grover-hot-springs): the state park hot springs, twelve minutes away
- [Near South Lake Tahoe](https://carsonriverresorts.com/near-south-lake-tahoe)
- [Monitor Pass](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/monitor-pass)
- [Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/ebbetts-pass-byway)
- [Hiking & Backpacking](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/hiking): fourteen trailheads within an hour, drive times from the resort
- [Cycling](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/cycling): Monitor, Ebbetts, Carson and Luther passes as climbs
- [Rafting the East Carson](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/rafting): Class II+ wilderness run from a put-in two minutes away, snowmelt season only
- [Snow](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/skiing): Kirkwood, Bear Valley and Hope Valley in winter
- [Grover Hot Springs guide](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/grover-hot-springs): session times, fees and what to know before driving over
- [Geology](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/geology): the volcanoes, the fault that heats the springs, and the ice that cut the canyon
- [Wildlife](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/wildlife): black bears, bald eagles and mule deer, and how to keep a clean camp
- [The Museum on the Knoll](https://carsonriverresorts.com/explore/historical-complex): Alpine County's 1882 schoolhouse and log jail, five minutes away
- [Conditions](https://carsonriverresorts.com/conditions): roads, fire and river conditions

## Events and seasons

- [Events](https://carsonriverresorts.com/events): the calendar — the Death Ride, Markleeville Creek Day, Heenan Lake season and more
- [Death Ride weekend 2027](https://carsonriverresorts.com/events/death-ride-2027): date, road closures on Highways 89 and 4, and staying on the course
- [Markleeville Creek Day 2026](https://carsonriverresorts.com/events/markleeville-creek-day-2026): the Alpine Watershed Group's creek workday at Markleeville Library Park
- [Heenan Lake season opens 2026](https://carsonriverresorts.com/events/heenan-lake-season-2026): opening of the catch-and-release season for trophy Lahontan cutthroat
- [Heenan Lake season closes 2026](https://carsonriverresorts.com/events/heenan-lake-season-closes-2026): last day of the ninety-one-day season on the brood lake
- [The Death Ride](https://carsonriverresorts.com/death-ride): the Tour of the California Alps passes the resort every July — closures and how to stay on the course
- [Markleeville Creek Day](https://carsonriverresorts.com/creek-day): the Alpine Watershed Group's annual creek workday
- [Deer Season, Zone X-8](https://carsonriverresorts.com/deer-season): lodging inside the X-8 deer zone
- [The Sasquatch](https://carsonriverresorts.com/sasquatch): the resort's resident legend, told straight

## History

- [The Story](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story): a timeline of the valley and the resort
- [A Century at Carson River Resort](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/a-century-at-carson-river-resort)
- [Snowshoe Thompson](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/snowshoe-thompson)
- [Hangman's Bridge](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/hangmans-bridge)
- [Silver Fever](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/silver-fever)
- [The River of Logs](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/the-river-of-logs)
- [The Trout That Came Back](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/the-trout-that-came-back)
- [The People Who Never Left](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/the-people-who-never-left)
- [Fire and Rebuild](https://carsonriverresorts.com/story/fire-and-rebuild)

## Optional

- [Reviews](https://carsonriverresorts.com/reviews)
- [Photographs](https://carsonriverresorts.com/photographs)
- [Gift certificates](https://carsonriverresorts.com/gift-certificates)
- [Papers](https://carsonriverresorts.com/papers)