About Us
SUGAR PINE LODGE, a quaint country inn….
in Iowa Hill, California is located between Foresthill and Colfax near Sugar Pine Lake in the Sugar Pine Recreation Area of the Tahoe National Forest. The lodge is open winter and summer. Since we are at the 4,000 ft. elevation, it’s always best to call ahead. The phone number for the lodge is (530) 367-6811. If you don’t get an answer immediately, please leave us a voicemail at (530) 317-8818.
About the owners: Woody and Brynn Wooden came from Nashville, Tennessee in 2007 where they had owned and operated two full-service restaurants. With an eye toward retirement and slowing down, they bought the old Goodall cabin near Sugar Pine Lake and began the process of turning it into a cozy, down-home bed and breakfast. As Mrs. Wooden (Miss B to the locals) settled into the small community of Iowa Hill, she was encouraged to take over the “old store” at 3071 Iowa Hill Road and in February 2016 launched a new business known as the Iowa Hill General Store in the old location. That business (a full-service restaurant, saloon and store) quickly became a popular stop for locals as well as hikers, bikers, cyclists and visitors from near and far. Miss B attributes her success to good old-fashioned country cooking. “You can’t beat it,” she says. “I guess it’s in my blood. Some of my ancestors came to North Carolina in the 1700s where they operated a stage stop. Others came to Pennsylvania with Swiss Mennonites in the late 1600s. That’s two kinds of women you can’t beat when it comes to comfort food….a southern woman and an Amish woman….and I’ve got both in my pedigree.”
When Miss B lost her lease in the old part of Iowa Hill she threw herself full time into finishing the lodge by the lake. “It’s actually a great location,” she says. “It’s as close to the lake as you can get with the exception of the National Forest.”
Woody is a native Tennessean who plays a guitar, as all self-respecting Tennesseans do, and brings his special brand of country music to the lodge on most Saturday nights throughout the summer. Miss B says, “One musician is like one mismatched sock. For some reason, you’re never going to have just one. When you have one man sitting around strumming a guitar, pretty soon you’ll have two, or three or four, and then a fiddler will drop by, and then a banjo player or a mandolin player. They multiply exponentially with no explanation,” she says, “so I just feed them and thank the Good Lord they keep coming back.”
“The main thing I want people to know about us,” says Miss B, “is that we are a family-friendly place. Everyone is welcome here and we strive to treat your family like our family, in the very best southern tradition.”
By June 2018, construction at SUGAR PINE LODGE should be wrapping up and plans are for the lodge to be in full swing for the summer season. The lodge has six overflow campsites and two guest rooms. We sponsor at least one major event each month on the Sunday closest to the fifteenth of the month. The menu includes home-made breads, muffins, cakes, pies, jams, jellies and preserves as well as other specialties of the house. We have ice and other basic supplies for campers on the National Forest. Stop here first before you drive all the way back to Foresthill. We’ve probably got what you need. And if you get tired of your own cooking, please come try what Miss B calls “chuckwagon gourmet.” There’s nothing like a cast iron skillet and a woman who knows how to use it.