Winter Van Life: White Pine Resort

Time of Our Visit: December 2022 (Christmas Week)

White Pine Resort is located in the Wind River Range, ten miles from the quaint town of Pinedale, Wyoming. Fremont Lake is nearby, Wyoming’s second largest natural lake.

What We Loved About White Pine

Skiing without crowds during Christmas week. Abundant parking, no lift lines, and I never shared a lift ride, even with fresh powder.

Lifts are closed on Christmas Day. I love ski resorts that give employees the holiday off to spend with their families or however they choose.

Fresh powder doesn’t get tracked out on-piste. At the end of each of my ski days, I could find untouched snow on a cut run.

Plan Your RV/Van Life Road Trip to White Pine

whitepinewyoming.com
74 White Pine Road, Pinedale, WY 82941
(307) 367-6606
info@whitepinewyoming.com

Pass affiliation: Indy Pass 2024/25

Lift operating hours: Typically Friday to Monday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (closed on Christmas Day) – more information

Mountain Stats

• Lift-served skiable terrain: 370 acres
• Vertical: 1,100 feet
• Average snowfall: 150 inches per year

Driving to White Pine

White Pine requires traveling through remote areas of Wyoming. Be prepared in case of an emergency. Cell service is limited between towns and help might be slow to reach you. Study your route on a map and identify places where you can seek help if needed.

Wyoming is a windy place. The kind of wind that can blow a trailer over. Take high wind warnings seriously, especially when it’s snowing. Don’t get caught in a whiteout when conditions deteriorate. It’s not unheard of for all interstates and highways to close across the entire state during inclement weather.

Wyoming has an abundance of wildlife. Avoid driving at dusk, dawn, or at night to decrease your chances of colliding with deer, elk, moose, and more. If you must go, reduce your speed. Night time speed limits are often posted.

Scary warnings aside, it’s a pretty easy drive to White Pine if you’re coming from Kemmerer or Rock Springs and weather conditions are favorable.

However, if you’re coming from Jackson, you must travel through Hoback Canyon which is twisty and subject to avalanche closures (but gorgeous).

If you’re coming from Lander, you’ll travel over South Pass which can be crazy windy. We talked to a couple of guys that drove over South Pass during a high wind warning. They had a truck camper and were towing a trailer and their camper shifted out of place.

On your final stretch to White Pine after leaving the highway in Pinedale (US-191), you’ll be driving well-maintained dirt roads (Fremont Lake Road and Skyline Drive). This might not be apparent if the roads are snow covered.

You’ll gain some elevation but nothing too steep. Enjoy the view of Fremont Lake on the left but don’t miss the turn to White Pine. It’s a pretty sharp right and will sneak up on you. The picture below shows the sign at the turn. You’ll be turning before the sign.

Parking at White Pine

There is a single, large parking lot in front of the ski hill. You won’t find any parking attendants, but parking is well-marked. You’re not going to do much walking to the lodge or lift. Based on our experience over Christmas week, I would guess they never run out of space.

Using Your 2022/23 Indy Pass at White Pine

You must visit the ticket desk inside the lodge each day you intend to ski/ride using your Indy Pass. Show a photo ID for an adhesive-backed ticket and a wicket. It is not scannable, so just make sure it’s visible to lifties.

Tips on How to Ski/Ride White Pine

Look for fresh lines on the Wind River run on a powder day. I found fresh tracks on this far side of the resort at the end of both days I skied at White Pine.

For some reason, people just didn’t go over there. Perhaps because it was an ungroomed intermediate run. Intermediate riders were sticking to groomers and advanced riders were sticking to the advanced runs closest to the main lift.

Also, the return to the base is a flat run – Wind River Return. Since it was groomed, it’s not hard to keep momentum on skis. A competent snowboarder can make it without unstrapping.

Check out the ski treeing potential as you ride the main lift. There are many well-spaced trees.

If you also look at White Pine’s Trail Map, you can see where trees are thinnest since the map is a photo of the ski area instead of a drawing.

During our trip, the snow was kind of weird, so we didn’t enjoy the trees as much as we hoped. Several inches of snow fell on top of what was already deep, untouched snow. I could float going straight, but upon turning, my skis would sink into the old settled layer making my momentum awkward. Maybe I don’t know how to ski, but Kyle was feeling awkward on his snowboard too. There was plenty of fresh snow to enjoy on-piste all day, so I wasn’t too sad about it.

If you ski to the bottom of the White Rock or Lost Eagle runs, be prepared to walk uphill for a short distance. If you look at White Pine’s trail map, you’ll notice a traverse to bypass it.

Where to Sleep in Your Van/RV Overnight

Call ahead to confirm that White Pine still allows overnight RV camping in their parking lot at no cost. Their website does not share an official policy.

When we were there in December 2022, they just asked that we park in the rear of the parking area, furthest from their lifts. They didn’t require us to check in with anyone. There were no amenities aside from a few port-a-potties, and there was nowhere to dump trash, so pack it out!

During our stay, they got fresh snow overnight. I never heard a plow so I didn’t wake up to move the van as I normally would. Turns out, they use a snow groomer to groom the parking lot instead of plowing it with a front loader or a blade. So, the groomer had to work around our van. Next time, I’ll set an alarm.

Note: White Pine has a Campground & RV Park, but it is not open during winter.

Another option to consider:

Lakeside Lodge Resort & Marina – 8.3 miles / 15 minutes in Pinedale

While the resort is located in Pinedale, they are about a ten-minute drive from downtown.

I don’t generally highlight places where you won’t be sleeping in your van or RV. However, I must share this place as a big thank you to the awesome employees that work there. Most notably, Chris.

We ended up renting a cabin at this resort due to a bomb cyclone that caused temperatures to plummet beyond -50 degrees Fahrenheit in some Wyoming locations.

While at the resort, our van’s diesel gelled up due to the frigid temperatures, so it was inoperable for a few days. No big deal, but we needed a way to cook food, ideally with our van’s induction burner.

Our cabin only had a small refrigerator and microwave. No stove or oven. (The resort has other cabins with full kitchens, but they’re not pet friendly.) Pinedale also doesn’t have services like UberEats or DoorDash like most of Wyoming, so ordering out every day wasn’t really an option. The restaurant at the resort was also closed for the winter.

Chris got us an extension cord so we could plug our van into our cabin to keep our Goal Zero charged. This allowed us to use our induction burner and keep our food cold in our Dometic coolers without draining our battery.

Chris even drove to town to buy what we needed to help remedy our diesel gelling issue while refusing any sort of payment. Wyomingites are the best. A super huge thank you!

Regardless of our van trouble, we were super comfortable in our cabin with a gas fireplace and a lake view that could be enjoyed from bed. The room was only $85 for some nights and $99 for holiday nights and nothing additional for our dog. That’s cheaper than some RV resorts!

We originally booked two nights upon our arrival, but it was easy to call the front desk each day and extend our stay. For a few days, we were kind of stuck there because of our van. However, we didn’t feel like leaving once our van was fixed. We liked it that much! We’re not into crowds and chaos, so we were happy to spend an unusually quiet holiday at Lakeside.

Where to Shower

Pinedale Aquatic Center – 10.8 miles / 20 minutes in Pinedale – We last paid $10 per person for access to showers and all facility amenities on the date of purchase. The price included exercise classes as well.

One might assume that Wyoming might not invest much in recreation centers and libraries due to their small population, but Wyoming towns often have high end facilities.

Working Remotely

AT&T service was only somewhat reliable at White Pine during the day. At night, it went out completely. Not sure why. I’d recommend using a cellular booster or something like Starlink. Otherwise, service is very reliable in downtown Pinedale. One September, I did Zoom calls outside of the Sublette County Library.

Service was also reliable for us at the Lakeside Lodge Resort & Marina. We were able to stream movies on our iPad without a problem.

Where to Shop for Groceries

• Ridley’s – 10.7 miles / 20 minutes in Pinedale

Where to Eat/Drink

• Pine Coffee Supply – 10.9 miles / 20 minutes in Pinedale – This placed served up an excellent mocha. However, we shouldn’t have started our day with our normal tea and coffee before going to Pine Coffee Supply. We were feeling extremely wired once we finished our beverages. If you need a strong dose of caffeine, go here!
• China Gourmet – 11 miles / 20 minutes in Pinedale – This restaurant will also deliver to hotels. We were so happy to find out that they would deliver to us at Lakeside Lodge Resort & Marina because no other place would. We couldn’t even get pizza delivery.

Where to Do Laundry/Wash Your Rig

Rocky Mountain Car Wash – 11.5 miles / 20 minutes in Pinedale – While the name only mentions car wash, this Rocky Mountain location also has a laundromat. Both were spotlessly clean. The stainless steel throughout the laundromat was sparkling, and we watched employees aggressively scrub the floors and walls of all the car wash bays. The car wash takes credit cards and their largest bay offers 14 feet of clearance.

Before Rocky Mountain, we reluctantly tried a different local laundromat first, even though it was dirty. Unfortunately, we realized their quarter machine was broken after already starting a load in one washer. We had to drive our load of wet clothes over to Rocky Mountain.

Other Tips for Your Visit to White Pine

Wyoming winters come with frigid cold temperatures and heavy winds don’t help. The level of cold is shocking if you’re used to winters in the Eastern Sierra, Lake Tahoe, and Pacific Northwest. Prepare to keep you and your rig warm.

Visiting Wyoming is like going back in time. Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash don’t exist here. Taxis and public transportation might also be unavailable. Cell service is often limited between towns. Businesses might not have websites, social media, or much of an online presence. You might just have to take a chance on a place without much information. You won’t see a lot of Sprinter vans or Teslas. Mercedes and Tesla dealerships and service centers don’t even exist in the state. Upscale amenities are few. No Ritz-Carltons. The most romantic hotel stay you might find in a Wyoming town is a Best Western or Holiday Inn. I personally love Wyoming for this reason. If you want to visit Wyoming but desire certain services and amenities, I’d stick to Jackson. Pinedale and much of the rest of Wyoming will not be for you.

For those with Mercedes Sprinter vans that need repairs, the closest Mercedes with Sprinter techs are going to be in the Salt Lake City, Utah area.

Other Ski Areas Nearby

• Snow King Mountain (Powder Alliance 2024/25, Indy Pass 2024/25) – 88 miles / 2 hours in Jackson
• Jackson Hole (Ikon Pass 2024/25, Mountain Collective 2024/25) – 100 miles / 2.25 hours in Teton Village

Other Winter Activities

White Pine’s Nordic Ski Trails – We haven’t tried cross-country skiing yet, but it seems like something fun to do when lift-served downhill skiing conditions are not ideal. White Pine offers free access to 35 kilometers of groomed trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Moose viewing – We saw the most moose in our lifetime during our travels in Wyoming in December 2022 and January 2023. There is a healthy population around Pinedale and Fremont Lake. You might have luck spotting one at an appropriately signed turnout that says “Wyoming’s Wildlife” just outside of Pinedale. On Google Maps, the turnout is labeled Trappers Point Site. We happened to see a moose as we were driving past that spot late in the day.

It’s exciting to witness animals in their natural environment, but we hope everyone will practice safe viewing. Check out these tips from REI on how to stay safe around moose and other wildlife.