Tahoe Cross Country sits right near downtown Tahoe City with 65 kilometers of groomed trails spread across the property. If you’re coming with your dog, you’ll want to know upfront that only three of those trails are dog-friendly—they total about nine kilometers and are marked with a paw icon on the maps. You’ll need to buy a dog day ticket or season pass before you head out.

The park’s day lodge has warming huts and a café where you can grab coffee and something to eat, though only service dogs are allowed inside the building itself. That’s worth planning around if you want to take a longer break. At the trailhead and parking lot, dogs need to stay on leash. Once you’re on the designated dog trails, you can let them off-leash if they have solid voice control, but the park does ask that you keep them close and responsive to commands. The Sierra Nevada scenery is genuinely beautiful—this is serious mountain territory, and the trails show it.

A few practical things: the park provides free poop bags throughout the property, and you’re expected to use them and dispose of bags in the garbage cans. If your dog tends toward aggression or is generally unruly around other people and dogs, this probably isn’t the right spot—the trails see a lot of foot traffic from skiers and snowshoers, and everyone needs to feel safe.

Whether you’re cross-country skiing or snowshoeing alongside your dog, this works well for winter outings in the Tahoe area. The marked dog trails mean you’re not guessing about where you’re allowed to go, and the lodge setup gives you somewhere to warm up afterward. Just factor in the ticket cost and give yourself time to get the leash situation sorted before you hit the trailhead.