Do I need chains to get to Heavenly right now?
No, there is no chain control on the drive from Sacramento to Heavenly right now. Checked (Caltrans).
Read every five minutes from Caltrans chain control (cwwp2.dot.ca.gov), for the direction you drive up. The signs on the road are what you are bound by: confirm at roads.dot.ca.gov or call 511 before you go.
Storm alerts
A notification on this device when chain control starts, changes or lifts, or a road closes or reopens. Pick your roads:
An alert is a heads-up that something changed, not a road report, and it can arrive a few minutes after the change. Before you drive, check Caltrans QuickMap or Nevada 511 (nvroads.com), or call 511. A few alerts a day at most; no account, no email, and you can turn them off here any time (what we keep).
Do you need chains on US-50 to Heavenly right now? Live Caltrans chain control on the drive from Sacramento over Echo Summit, checked every five minutes.
The drive from Sacramento and the Bay Area
Heavenly's California Lodge is in South Lake Tahoe, at the top of Ski Run Boulevard. From Sacramento the drive is US-50 east through Placerville and Pollock Pines, up the American River canyon past Kyburz and Strawberry to Echo Summit, then down Meyers Grade into the Tahoe basin. From the Bay Area it is the same road once you reach Sacramento.
The answer above reads Caltrans's eastbound checkpoints on that drive, from Placerville to Echo Summit. Westbound controls on the same road are for the drive home, and they can differ. Heavenly's Stagecoach and Boulder lodges are on the Nevada side, off Kingsbury Grade; for those, the Kingsbury Grade answer covers the last few miles.
The highest Caltrans checkpoint on the way is Echo Summit on US-50, at 7,401 ft; the lowest is Placerville East City Limits(Pointview), at 2,240 ft. Snow at the top of the drive is not snow at the bottom, and the checkpoints in between are where the level changes.
Where Caltrans sets chain control on the way
US-50 east from Placerville over Echo Summit
- Echo Summit · 7,401 ft
- Twin Bridges · 6,158 ft
- Strawberry · 5,728 ft
- Wright's Lake · 5,515 ft
- Fred's Place · 4,957 ft
- Pollock Pines (Sly Park) · 3,982 ft
- Sand Flat · 3,953 ft
- Saw Mill Under Crossing · 3,641 ft
- Riverton · 3,231 ft
- Camino Heights · 2,926 ft
- Placerville East City Limits(Pointview) · 2,240 ft
These are the eastbound checkpoints, the ones you pass on the way up. Coming home, Caltrans's checkpoints in the other direction apply, and they are not always at the same level: read them on the road pages before you leave.
Echo Summit cameras
US-50 at Sierra at Tahoe / Echo Lake Eastbound · live video
US-50 at Myers · live video
US-50 at Twin Bridges · live videoAll 4 cameras at Echo Summit: US-50 at Echo Summit (offline) · US-50 at Sierra at Tahoe / Echo Lake Eastbound · US-50 at Myers · US-50 at Twin Bridges · every pass camera
What R-1, R-2 and R-3 mean on the drive to Heavenly
Caltrans sets chain control at its control points, in three levels:
- R-1
- Chains, traction devices or snow tires on the drive axle of every vehicle except four-wheel and all-wheel drive, which must still carry chains.
- R-2
- Chains on every vehicle except four-wheel or all-wheel drive with snow tires on all four wheels. Those must still carry chains.
- R-3
- Chains on every vehicle, no exceptions.
Trucks and trailers have rules of their own at every level. Both states' rules, side by side, are on chain control levels R1, R2 and R3 explained.
More for this trip
- Heavenly opening day, lifts and snow
- Do I need chains on Echo Summit right now?
- US-50 road conditions and cameras
- What to carry for a Sierra winter drive
The drive to another resort: Palisades Tahoe · Northstar · Kirkwood · Sugar Bowl · Boreal · Sierra-at-Tahoe
Chain controls and closures: Caltrans (cwwp2.dot.ca.gov), read every five minutes. Nevada Explorer is not affiliated with Caltrans or with Heavenly. Always confirm at roads.dot.ca.gov or call 511 before you travel.