Tamarack Resort

Overview

Tamarack Resort occupies the western slopes of West Mountain above Lake Cascade (Cascade Reservoir) in Valley County, in Idaho's West Central Mountains. Donnelly anchors the resort's mailing address; McCall lies about 20 minutes north, and Boise is roughly 90 miles south, about a two-hour drive. Tamarack distinguishes itself among Idaho's ski areas by pairing an alpine mountain with a large lake at its base, producing a rare combination resort where visitors can descend roughly 2,760 vertical feet in winter or, in the warmer months, boat and golf beside the same lake. That vertical drop ranks among the largest in Idaho.

The resort's lift-served terrain spans about 1,100 acres across roughly 50 trails, served by seven lifts, including three high-speed quads plus surface lifts, running from a base near 4,900 feet to a summit around 7,660 feet. Average annual snowfall of about 300 inches supports a season that typically runs from December into early April. When it opened in December 2004, Tamarack was the first entirely new destination ski resort built in North America in 23 years — a distinction that still frames how the resort is discussed within the industry.

Winter at Tamarack Resort

Winter at Tamarack centers on alpine skiing and snowboarding across the resort's roughly 1,100 skiable acres, with three terrain parks giving freestyle skiers and riders a place to session rails and jumps away from through-traffic on the mountain's 50 trails. The vertical drop of about 2,760 feet, delivered from a 7,660-foot summit to a 4,900-foot base, is substantial by Idaho standards, allowing for sustained runs rather than the short pitches common at smaller local hills. Three high-speed quads move skiers efficiently to the upper mountain, supplemented by additional surface lifts for beginner terrain.

Beyond lift-served skiing, Tamarack maintains more than 30 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails for classic and skate skiing, plus dedicated snowshoeing routes through the surrounding forest. Fat biking — riding oversized-tire bicycles adapted for snow — has become part of the winter program as well, and a tubing hill offers a lower-intensity option for families. Backcountry-minded skiers and riders can access adjacent uncontrolled terrain from the resort boundary. With roughly 300 inches of average annual snowfall, Tamarack's winter season generally extends from December through early April, though exact opening and closing dates shift year to year with snowpack.

Summer at Tamarack Resort

Tamarack's transformation into a summer destination began in earnest in 2016 with the opening of a lift-served mountain bike park, which uses the same lift infrastructure that carries skiers in winter to move bikes and riders uphill so they can descend on purpose-built trails. Hiking trails lace the mountain and the surrounding forest terrain, ranging from lakeside strolls to climbs toward the 7,660-foot summit.

Golf is a centerpiece of the summer offering: Osprey Meadows, a Robert Trent Jones II-designed course stretching more than 7,300 yards, reopened in 2023 following a renovation, giving the resort a championship-caliber layout. Robert Trent Jones II is one of the more prominent golf course design firms in the American West, and a course of this scale signals a serious investment in the resort's non-ski identity. Lake Cascade itself, at the mountain's base, opens up watersports including boating, paddleboarding, and fishing. Less strenuous options include scenic chairlift rides for mountain views without the climb, and disc golf for a casual round. Together, these amenities let Tamarack function as a genuine four-season resort rather than a ski area with a short summer add-on.

Where to Stay

Accommodations at Tamarack concentrate in the Village at Tamarack, also called Village Plaza, a mixed-use development combining condominiums with ground-floor commercial space. Units in the Village range from studios to three-bedroom condos and penthouses, giving groups of varying sizes options within walking distance of lifts and dining.

Beyond the Village core, Tamarack offers slopeside cottages, chalets, and townhomes for travelers who prefer a more standalone or ski-in, ski-out setup. The Lodge at Osprey Meadows provides additional lodging tied to the golf course and clubhouse area. Because the resort was designed from the outset as a destination property rather than a day-use hill, the lodging inventory is more extensive than at many Idaho ski areas, built to accommodate both winter ski trips and summer stays centered on golf, biking, and the lake.

Dining

Dining at Tamarack is distributed across the Village and the golf clubhouse rather than concentrated in a single restaurant. Morels operates as one of the resort's dining anchors, and the Osprey Meadows clubhouse restaurant serves golfers and other visitors with views over the course and, beyond it, Lake Cascade.

Village Plaza rounds out the dining scene with slopeside cafes and bars suited to a quick lunch between runs or a post-ski drink. The overall pattern — a golf clubhouse restaurant, a Village anchor restaurant, and casual cafe and bar options — mirrors what's typical at larger, purpose-built mountain resorts, where dining needs to serve both winter ski traffic and summer golf and lake tourism.

Getting There & When to Go

Tamarack sits above Lake Cascade in Valley County, with McCall about 20 minutes to the north and Boise roughly 90 miles — about a two-hour drive — to the south, making the resort reachable as a day trip from Boise or a short add-on to a McCall visit.

Winter visitors should plan around the resort's roughly December-to-early-April season, when the area's approximately 300 inches of average annual snowfall builds the base for the mountain's near-2,760-foot vertical drop. Because Tamarack is a four-season operation, timing a visit depends heavily on intent: skiers and riders should target mid-winter for the deepest snowpack, while travelers interested in golf at Osprey Meadows, mountain biking, or Lake Cascade watersports will want the summer months, when the lake is open and the lift-served bike park is running.

A Resort with an Unusually Dramatic History

Tamarack's history is unusually eventful for a resort barely two decades old. The property was conceived long before it opened, planned as early as the early 1980s under the name Valbois. When it finally opened on December 15, 2004, it carried the distinction of being the first entirely new destination ski resort built in North America in 23 years.

High-profile visitors and investors followed. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush vacationed at Tamarack in August 2005, and tennis champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf became partners in a planned luxury development at the resort, expected to carry the Fairmont brand, between roughly 2006 and 2008. That momentum collapsed with the broader financial crisis: Tamarack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008 and closed in 2009. The resort was subsequently revived, first under community-driven operation and later under new ownership, and has continued operating as a four-season destination since. That arc — an early-1980s concept, a headline-making 2004 opening, celebrity investment, bankruptcy, and revival — gives Tamarack a backstory more dramatic than most ski resorts anywhere in the country.

Frequently Asked Questions