One room with two full beds and a stall shower, a front porch to sit on, and no kitchen past a dorm fridge, a microwave and a coffee pot — the least expensive cabin on the row, and the one to take when you plan on eating in town or out of the store. It is named for what this county ran on: Jacob Markley's toll bridge started Markleeville in 1861, and for about five weeks in 1860 the Pony Express changed horses at Woodfords, eight miles north.
The name covers a whole era. In September 1861 Jacob Markley staked 160 acres
beside Markleeville Creek and built the thing every new settlement actually
runs on: a toll bridge, collecting fees from traffic bound for the Silver
Mountain mines. The Johnson toll road carried that same traffic across the
East Fork at the crossing everyone now calls Hangman's Bridge, a mile
downstream of this porch; by 1865 its proprietors were readying it for the
stages.
The flashiest way station in county history lasted about five weeks. In April
1860, Cary's Barn at Woodfords became a Pony Express remount station — in the
service's first week, rider Warren Upson fought over the Sierra through a
blinding snowstorm — before the route shifted north for good. The barn's site
is California Historical Landmark No. 805.
The stage roads outlived the ponies. Up at Silver Mountain, the stage stopped
at a big tree by the road — the same stop where, as the story goes, Nettie
Chalmers walked down to wait every day for nineteen years. Cabin №6 next door
carries that story.
The resort still plays the part: the last store and services before Monitor
Pass, the place to top up before the road climbs. Travelers have been
stopping at this bend for a hundred and sixty years.
The essentials- On the East Fork
- Dogs welcome
- Open year-round
- No kitchen — dorm fridge, microwave, and a coffee pot · fan for summer, electric tabletop heater for winter · front patio with porch seating (no backyard)
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.
