One room with two full beds, a full kitchen — fridge, stove and oven, microwave, toaster, pots and pans — and a backyard with a firepit, a picnic table and a charcoal grill. Up Loope Canyon, five or six miles from this porch, stood the town of Monitor: some 2,000 people at its peak, named for the USS Monitor, the Civil War ironclad. The town is gone; the pass above it still carries the name past the resort's driveway.
The Monitor–Mogul district was the closest major mining district to this bend
of the river — up Loope Canyon along today's Highway 89. The town of Monitor
kept a post office from 1863 to 1888; its mines carried names like Tarshish,
Advance, Zaca, Morning Star, and Curtz. The ore was the county's usual
problem: sulfide-rich "rebellious" rock that resisted every local process
— some of it was shipped for smelting as far as Swansea, Wales.
When Dr. Loope arrived, the fading camp took his name — post office 1898 to
1908 — and then it faded all the way out. What survived is the geography. On
September 12, 1954, the state dedicated Monitor Pass, the newest
state-highway crossing of the Sierra Nevada, named for the vanished camp that
was named for a warship.
That road starts climbing essentially at the resort's driveway. In the first
two weeks of October the aspen groves along it turn whole mountainsides gold,
and every July the Death Ride climbs it from both sides. The town lasted
twenty-five years; the name is still working.
The full silver story — boom, bust, and what survived — is in Silver Fever,
in The Story.
The essentials- On the East Fork
- Dogs welcome
- Open year-round
- Full kitchen — full fridge, stove and oven, microwave, coffee pot, toaster, pots, pans and utensils · fan for summer, propane heat for winter · backyard and a small front porch with chairs · firepit, picnic table and charcoal grill · room for an extra tent ($10 for the stay)
Stated plainly- Zero cell reception
- Free Wi-Fi at the resort
Dog fee — $30 for the visit, declared at booking, priced in the receiptCheck‑in 2pm · Check‑out 11amNo limit on how many dogs, or how bigSleeps 4 · one room · 2 beds (2 fulls) · 1 bathThe plain terms.
Deposit & balance — tonight’s deposit is half the lodging, plus Alpine County’s tax on that half; the balance is charged automatically about a week before arrival, to the same card.
Dogs — $30 for the whole visit, declared at booking. Dogs camp free at the riverside sites.
Times — check-in from 2pm, check-out by 11am. Campsites and RV slots turn over at noon.
Cancellation — Cancelling: a $25 cancellation fee applies to any cancelled reservation, and the rest of what you paid goes back to the card it came from — or keep the whole of it as an open credit toward a future stay, with no fee. Either way, call (530) 694-2229 and talk to us — we are a family resort and we would rather hear from you than not.
