Winter Van Life: Tamarack Resort
Planning a ski trip to Tamarack? Learn more about overnight RV parking, as well as everything else we’ve learned for a successful visit.
When We Visited: December 2019, February 2022, March 2023, March 2024, December 2024
Introduction to Tamarack Resort
Tamarack is located just two-and-a-half hours north of Boise in Tamarack, Idaho. In winter, enjoy downhill skiing and snowboarding, as well as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and fat biking on their Nordic trails. In the summer months, Tamarack is home to lift-served mountain biking, zip lining, hiking, rafting, and water sports on Lake Cascade.
What we love about Tamarack
You can ski/ride Tamarack’s entire 2,800-foot vertical drop in a single run. There are many ways to tire out your legs quickly, especially with the help of high-speed lifts. Just take a look at their trail map and explore.
Solitude and the views. At some ski resorts, you hear highway noise in the background. At Tamarack, it’s silent other than your breath and skis cutting into the snow. If you look out at the valley and Lake Cascade, it’s hard to see evidence of a local population.
If you visit on a weekday, you can find fresh lines all day.
Tamarack’s website, address, contact info, and hours
tamarackidaho.com
311 Village Drive, Tamarack, ID 83615
(208) 325-1000
info@tamarackidaho.com
Operating hours: Open daily. See Tamarack’s Stats & Hours for more information.
Tamarack’s pass affiliations
Tamarack’s mountain stats
- Average snowfall: 300 inches
- Lift-accessible terrain: 1,100 acres
- Vertical drop: 2,800 feet
- More stats
Driving to Tamarack
The roads to Tamarack from the local area are relatively flat but can be very icy!
Don’t hug the right side of the road. It’s hard to see the edge of the pavement when the roads are snow covered and you can end up out of control if you get pulled into the dirt shoulder.
Also, watch out for frost heaves and potholes. I never knew about frost heaves until traveling Idaho highways and seeing warning signs everywhere. Here’s a great compilation of vehicles driving over frost heaves if you aren’t familiar with them either.
Parking at Tamarack
See Tamarack’s Getting Here page for a map of the parking areas.
Main Lot
I personally like parking our van in the Main Lot. It’s closest to Tamarack Outfitters where you must go for guest services and RFID cards. It’s also where you go to redeem Indy Pass benefits. As of the 2024/25 season, there are no options to reload RFID cards online for Indy pass holders.
I’ve seen 24-foot Sprinter vans in the Main Lot, but I wouldn’t bring a rig any longer than that.
On weekends, Tamarack parking attendants string rope to mark where you are supposed to park with signs instructing cars and trucks (extended length vehicles) on which side of the rope to park.
There are a few spots in the Main Lot that I find friendliest to smaller RVs. As you enter the lot, look back over your left shoulder.
If you arrive by 7:30-8:00 am, you should have plenty of spots to choose from. I noticed people start racing into the Main Lot about 8:30 am on the weekends and it will be full around the time Tamarack opens at 9:00 am.
Arling Lot
Most people park in the Main Lot first, so there’s typically more space available in Arling Lot. It’s accessible from the same roundabout as the Main Lot, so it doesn’t add much walking time to Tamarack Outfitters and the slopes.
Trillium Lots
If you already have a loaded RFID card, these lots are probably preferable as they have ski-in/ski-out access to Tamarack Express. I don’t actually recall seeing signs labeled “Trillium”. However, I did see sandwich board signs that pointed to ski-in/ski-out parking.
Aspen Lot
This is an overflow lot and is where overnight RV parking is allowed. I’d say it’s also the best place to park if you have a rig longer than 25 feet.
Aspen Lot is not within reasonable walking distance of the slopes, but Tamarack’s website and signs in the parking lot say that a shuttle comes around every 15 minutes.
I’ve never seen the Aspen Lot used for day use parking on a weekday. Only on weekends.
Tip: If you need to go to Tamarack Outfitters, short-term parking is available right in front. As you enter the resort area, just look for the small parking lot to your right after you pass the ski-in/ski-out (Trillium) lots.
Tamarack Outfitters typically opens at 8 am, so you can do short-term parking first and then park in your preferred parking lot.
Using Your 2024/25 Indy Pass at Tamarack
To redeem your Indy Pass benefits, you need to go to Tamarack Outfitters in The Village at Tamarack. Follow the signs for Lift Tickets. This is the place you are looking for:
Show your Indy Pass and they’ll give you a reloadable RFID card. (You might have to pay $5 plus taxes.) You must go to Tamarack Outfitters each day you plan to ski/ride using your Indy Pass as there isn’t a way to reload it online.
Note: On the weekend, we’ve always had to stand in line for 20 minutes or more, even if we arrive right when they open at 8 am.
Tamarack lift and trail navigation tips
If you can be picky, avoid the weekend on a powder day.
At the beginning of a Sunday, we could only manage a single run within an hour as there is only one major base lift (Tamarack Express) for accessing upper mountain terrain. The snow quality was still amazing all day, but we didn’t get the fresh lines we were hoping for.
A powder Monday gave us freshies all morning and there were no lift lines aside from a short one on Tamarack Express at the start of the day. Even though we weren’t there through the afternoon, I’m willing to bet there were powder stashes for a couple of days.
Cell service at Tamarack
While you can get AT&T and Verizon service around the Tamarack base area, it might not be reliable enough for a video call. I’d recommend a cell booster or using Starlink.
Overnight RV parking at Tamarack
Tamarack allows overnight RV parking in their Aspen Lot for $35 as confirmed by a person at Tamarack Outfitters in December 2024. However, please note, this is no longer advertised on their website and they no longer have a way to book online as of the 2024/25 season. You must go to Tamarack Outfitters in the village during business hours to pay for a permit. I would personally call ahead to make sure you can camp during your intended dates.
Tamarack never had an official overnight RV parking policy until the 2023/24 season, so March 2024 was our first time camping there.
Camping is not within walking distance of the lifts, but according to Tamarack’s website, a shuttle comes around every 15 minutes. I personally prefer moving to a lot closer to the slopes in the morning.
The Aspen Lot is an extremely large dirt lot with smaller parking areas that branch off of it. The dumpster was a little hard to find because it was tucked away in one of those smaller parking areas.
The portable toilets were extremely clean and practically unused. I counted five during our visit.
Other camping options near Tamarack
McCall RV Resort – 35 minutes in McCall – If you plan on riding Tamarack and Brundage Mountain, it is central to both mountains. This is one of our favorite RV parks in the entire western US. AT&T and Verizon cell service work well here, and the resort also offers WiFi.
WorldMark McCall – 35 minutes in McCall – This isn’t a place to sleep overnight in your van or RV, but we’ve stayed here a couple of times using Interval International. We’ve paid as little as $299 for a week in a 2 bedroom / 2 bath condo with a full kitchen.
It’s in a quiet location and their rooms seem like they’ve been updated in the past few years. We’ve found AT&T and Verizon cell service to be reliable here. If you snowmobile, they offer trailer parking. If you like walking, there are plowed walking paths nearby so you can walk to downtown McCall or cruise around the McCall Golf Course.
Where to eat and drink near Tamarack
Tamarack has a few dining options in their village, but we haven’t had an opportunity to eat there yet. If you don’t mind going for a little drive, I like Gemma’s Italian Deli & Market. It’s 25 minutes away in Lake Fork.
McCall also has numerous options 40 minutes away.
Closest ski resorts to Tamarack
- Little Ski Hill – 40 minutes in McCall
- Brundage Mountain (Indy Pass 2024/25) – 50 minutes in the Payette National Forest near McCall
- Bogus Basin (Powder Alliance 2024/25, Freedom Pass 2024/25) – 2.75 hours in Boise
