Tom's Place Resort, built in 1917, is 15 miles south of Mammoth Lakes, right near Rock Creek. You can rent a room in the main lodge for $65 to $75 a night, or a rustic cabin for $80 to $140 a night.

Cabins at Rock Creek (619-935-4170) are $70-$105 per person, including breakfast and dinner. The huts cost $25 a night per person. Ski rentals are $10 a day; snowshoes, $12.

One of the four-bedroom cabins is nestled among the evergreens near Rock Creek and part of the Rock Creek Cattle Co. development.

The staff is among the most personable, passionate and knowledgeable in the West, and they vastly outnumber the guests who might occupy the 29 lodge suites, canvas cabins, log homes and rooms in a ...