by Christina Nellemann

On the way up to my favorite hiking and kayaking spots in Northern California, I always stop at the loveliest little group of cabins I have ever seen. Sorensen’s is a historic resort in the Sierra Nevada which has been offering their mountain retreat to travelers since 1926.

Sorensen’s is at an elevation of 7,000 ft and is located in California’s serene Hope Valley, 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe. The resort lies one mile east of the intersection of Highways 88 and 89. They are approximately 4 hours from San Francisco, 2 hours from Sacramento and 1-1/4 hours from Reno, Nevada.

The resort has 28 tiny cabins for nightly rental that each have a name, including Foxtail, Redwood, Homestead, Wagon Wheel and Snowshoe Thompson. They are tucked into the hillside surrounded by evergreens, aspen and a gurgling stream. Most of the cabins have a private deck with wooden lounge chairs. Several cabins have nearby hammocks strung up between the trees.

Several of the tiny cabins are from the former Santa’s Village near Santa Cruz, CA. They were taken apart, shipped up to Hope Valley and rebuilt at Sorensen’s.

I’ve seen many people stop by the resort just to walk around the cabins and exclaim over their tiny size and wonderful location. It is really tempting to peak in through the windows, or take a seat on one of the porches.

Visiting Sorenson’s or staying in one of the cabins is perfect year round. They are open all winter and offer snowshoeing tours and sledding for both children and adults. The spring and summer have an abundance of flowers spilling out of the cabin flower boxes. In October the aspens begin to change color and the place looks like it has caught on fire. The hiking during this time is spectacular.

If you can, plan your trip to the resort during the week. Unfortunately, several of the cabins are very close to the highway and on busy summer and fall weekends the traffic noise can be annoying.

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