Do I need chains to get to Kirkwood right now?
No, there is no chain control on the drive from Sacramento to Kirkwood 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 to get to Kirkwood right now? Live Caltrans chain control on SR-88 from Jackson over Carson Spur, from District 10, every five minutes.
The drive from Sacramento and the Bay Area
Kirkwood is on SR-88 between Carson Spur and Carson Pass. From Sacramento and the Bay Area the usual way in is SR-88 east from Jackson, through Pine Grove, Cook's Station and Ham's Station, past Silver Lake and over Carson Spur just before the resort. It is the longest climb of any drive on this page, and Caltrans District 10 posts eastbound checkpoints most of the way up.
When SR-88 is closed at Carson Spur, the other way in is US-50 to Meyers, SR-89 over Luther Pass to Pickett's Junction, then SR-88 west over Carson Pass. That drive is covered by the Echo Summit and Carson Pass answers, not by the answer above, which reads only the climb from Jackson.
The highest Caltrans checkpoint on the way is 2 Miles Wo Kirkwood on SR-88, at 7,972 ft; the lowest is 6 Miles Eo Jackson, at 1,784 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
SR-88 east from Jackson over Carson Spur
- 2 Miles Wo Kirkwood · 7,972 ft
- Kirkwood · 7,775 ft
- Martin Meadow · 7,621 ft
- Iron Mt Rd · 7,595 ft
- Silver Lake · 7,319 ft
- Peddler Vista · 6,830 ft
- Lumber Yard · 6,545 ft
- Ham's Station · 5,413 ft
- Cook's Station · 5,026 ft
- Dew Drop · 4,242 ft
- Ok Corral · 3,818 ft
- Buckhorn · 3,438 ft
- Cedar Mill · 3,064 ft
- Red Corral · 2,687 ft
- Pine Grove · 2,575 ft
- 6 Miles Eo Jackson · 1,784 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.
Cameras on SR-88 Carson Pass
What R-1, R-2 and R-3 mean on the drive to Kirkwood
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
- Kirkwood opening day, lifts and snow
- Do I need chains on Carson Pass right now?
- SR-88 road conditions and cameras
- What to carry for a Sierra winter drive
The drive to another resort: Heavenly · Palisades Tahoe · Northstar · 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 Kirkwood. Always confirm at roads.dot.ca.gov or call 511 before you travel.