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This small mountain resort in Truckee, California serves up year-round recreation and sports facilities for an active family vacation at any price.

Like many mountain resorts, Northstar-at-Tahoe stands out for its abundant summer and winter recreation. But unlike most, it benefits from a strategic location in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, which puts it a scant six miles from the shores of Lake Tahoe and only a few miles farther from the lakefront casinos just across the state line in Nevada.

At any season of the year that adds a wealth of choices to the menu of diversions, which is exactly what you need if your family, like mine, shares DNA but can’t reach a consensus about the best way to spend the day.

Summer Reunion - Water Focus

From the first time I visited Northstar, in summer, I was impressed by its warm-weather dimensions. Those included a well-thought-out recreation center that in summer was the true heart of the resort. It backed up into the pine trees just 100 yards from a pedestrian village—now in the throes of a dramatic expansion--and thus became a gathering point, especially for families. It consisted of a large, irregularly shaped, life-guarded outdoor pool framed by an ice-cream parlor, snack bar, video and games arcade, a fitness center, outdoor hot tubs, and 10 hard tennis courts offering camps and social events to adults and juniors alike. Behind the fitness center stretched an adults-only (read quiet) lap pool and a adults-only lounge with leather sofas, a TV, a fireplace and books.

Why go to the mountains to hang out at the pool, you ask? Because that enclosed space has so much going on and its central location lets individual family members follow their particular passions and then meet up there later—though there’s also an appealing option in the Martis Valley Grill at the golf clubhouse, which has sunset views across the Martis Valley. Either way, there are a lot of passions to pursue. That includes 18 holes of golf and a complete mountain bike park, with 100 miles of trails. The same gondola that takes mountain bikers to the summit also carries hikers and sightseers (who can then ride back down). Anglers have mountain streams and the lake. The lake itself affords opportunities to canoe, kayak, sail, swim, lie on the beach,  take scenic cruises aboard a replica of a paddlewheeler, or stroll the shops and parks lining the northern rim of the lake.

Winter Reunion - Snow Focus

I returned in winter, sharing 2,480 acres of terrain (25% of it beginner) with other skiers, snowboarders and Nordic and snowshoe enthusiasts. I was there before work on the pedestrian village was completed, but now there is also an ice rink, a Village Plaza with firepits and slopeside views, new shops, restaurants, après ski venues, and a Burton Learn to Ride center for everyone from beginners to advanced boarders.

Luxury condos are for rent in the new village, supplementing lodging that now ranges from simple studios to six-bedroom homes. An on-property shuttle stitches everything together if you prefer not to drive. 
 
Want more? There are Action Zones summer and winter equipped with bungee trampolines and other games and rides. Minors Camps provide licensed daycare and activities for kids ages 2-6 from 8:30am to 4:30pm in summer and winter, freeing adults to pursue their own interests during the day. There are even kids trail maps. If you want to see how they’re doing in ski school, ridge the gondola to the midmountain lodge, where there are bleachers at the base of a special kids’ slope. And if you’re planning a family reunion, the resort has staff to assist, even to the point of sending postcards to everyone with the pertinent information.
 
For more information, you can contact your travel agent, call the mountain at  800-GO NORTH or do research online at www.skinorthstar.com.