Where is Heavenly Resort?

A 70 mile drive south of Reno International Airport, Heavenly ski resort straddles the Nevada / California state line and is located above the town of South Lake Tahoe near the south eastern shore of Lake Tahoe.

At the base of the Heavenly gondola is the Heavenly Village, which comprises a couple of condo hotels and various shops and restaurants. The Heavenly Village in California is one block from Stateline, which is a little settlement with resort casinos on the Nevada side of the border.

Heavenly Shuttles & Driving from the Airports

The Reno Airport is 70 miles north of Heavenly (1 hour drive). From Reno airport it is easy to get to Heavenly by rental car via Highways 395 and 50. Otherwise there are inexpensive and convenient Heavenly shuttles directly from Reno Airport to the door of all of the South Lake Tahoe hotels and Stateline casinos. These can be organized as part of Heavenly ski packages.

Alternatively the San Francisco airport is another convenient arrival point, which is 200 miles to the southwest. It’s a 5 hour drive from San Fran to Heavenly. If it has been snowing, make sure to check road conditions. Even the interstates get closed regularly due to heavy snow and dangerous driving conditions.

Or if you don’t want to drive, Bay Area Ski Bus provides transport between San Francisco and the Lake Tahoe area.

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Getting Around Heavenly Resort & South Lake Tahoe

There are four base areas of Heavenly Resort. The main tourist base is the Heavenly Village which is located in South Lake Tahoe and only a 5 minute walk from the state border and the Harveys and Harrah’s casinos in Stateline Nevada. To get between Heavenly Village and the slopes of the Heavenly ski area, there is the high speed Heavenly Gondola that whisks skiers up to the Tamarack Lodge area of the ski resort in 12 minutes. The views from the Heavenly Gondola are sensational!

The California Lodge base is 2.1 miles south of the Heavenly Village by road. It’s primarily a day base and it is popular with families due to the abundance of beginner terrain at the top of the tram and express chair lift that ascend from this base. There are very regular BlueGo buses that run between the Stateline Transit Center next to the Heavenly Village (California Route) and the California Lodge.

On the Nevada side is the Stagecoach Lodge base (aka Kingsbury base). It’s a 5.7 mile drive from the Heavenly Village up the steep and windy Kingsbury Grade Rd. There is no beginner terrain at this base. Nearby is the Boulder Lodge, which has a beginner run. There are 2-3 BlueGo buses per hour (Nevada route) between the Stateline Transit Center and both the Stagecoach and Boulder bases, and the Upper Nevada route connects these two areas.

Other Ski Resorts Nearby

The Lake Tahoe ski resorts include some big names with big annual snowfalls. Sierra at Tahoe is the closest, being only 16 miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe. The drive from South Lake Tahoe takes about 15-30 minutes (depending on road conditions), and if you don’t want to self-drive there are complimentary South Shore Shuttles between South Lake Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Kirkwood (also on the Epic Pass) is 34 miles south of Heavenly, a drive that takes about 45 minutes, although access can be difficult when it has snowed heavily. An inexpensive shuttle service is provided between various locations in South Lake Tahoe/Stateline and Kirkwood, but only on Wednesdays from mid January. Otherwise Discover Lake Tahoe can run private on-demand shuttles to Kirkwood.

To the north are the Nevadan resorts of Diamond Peak and Mt Rose, and further around the lake are Northstar (shuttles fro South Lake Tahoe to Northstar run on Tuesdays - Northstar is also on the Epic Pass), Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and the under-rated Homewood.

If you have a car and intend travelling to other ski hills or attractions, given the heavy snowfalls that can occur in the Lake Tahoe area, we recommend driving a 4WD.