A historic hotel, the Lube Room (worth the drive for the food alone), and the start of the part of the 4 that holds snow all winter.
4,800 ft
Dorrington is a tiny historic stop on Highway 4 at about 4,760 feet, two miles west of Camp Connell and directly adjacent to the Big Trees Village residential community. The Lube Room Saloon and the Dorrington Hotel sit next door to each other at 3431 Hwy 4, and that's most of the town — but the Lube Room food (11 oz fish & chips, chili with a serious cornbread, two-handed burgers) and beer garden are the actual reason to come up.
Dorrington started as Cold Spring Ranch in the 1850s. John Gardner and William Gibson took over the property in January 1868, and when the post office showed up in 1902 it got renamed after Rebekah Dorrington Gardner, John's widow. For decades it was a stockmen's depot, a toll stop on the road to Ebbetts Pass, and a summer waypoint for travelers heading to the giant sequoias.
It's still mostly a waypoint, just a quieter one. The Dorrington Hotel was rebuilt by John Gardner in the late 1880s after the original 1852 building burned. It runs as historic lodging with a downstairs restaurant, and locals will tell you Rebekah haunts the place. Across the highway, the Dorrington Inn rents A-frame cabins. There's a small general store for snacks and the basics, and that's the commercial district. Two miles east is Camp Connell. Directly adjacent is Big Trees Village, the HOA residential community at ~5,000 ft that shares the same after-work spots and fire station.
The actual social life happens next door at The Lube Room Saloon. It was an outdoor grease rack until 1977, when the owners switched from grease to beer and kept the name. Skip the dive-bar assumptions: the food is real. The fish & chips is a big 11 oz filet, the chili comes with an amazing slice of cornbread, and the burgers genuinely take two hands. Big beer garden out back with a yard where kids can run around and a horseshoe pit when there's no live music. Dogs welcome on the patio. Live music runs weekends with a named summer concert series (Poison Oakies, VC3 Band, Flashback, The Delta Chicks, Earthtones). If you live up here, you've been there. If you're driving through, you should stop.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
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Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
Join us for the Summer Concert Series at the Lube Room, featuring live music in a relaxed mountain setting. Enjoy great performances, scenic views, and a laid-back atmosphere with friends all season long.
One email Thursday morning with what's coming up in Dorrington and the rest of the corridor. No spam, no ads.
Eat at The Lube Room Saloon (the food is real: 11 oz fish & chips, chili with cornbread, two-handed burgers, live music most weekends, beer garden with horseshoes), stay or dinner at the historic Dorrington Hotel, rent an A-frame at the Dorrington Inn, and grab basics at the small general store. For more, drive 15 minutes west to Arnold or 30 minutes east to Bear Valley.
Yes, and it tends to stay. From Dorrington (4,760 ft) and above on Hwy 4, you can expect at least 1 to 2 inches of snow on the ground throughout the winter — it accumulates rather than melting between storms. Down at Arnold (~4,000 ft, about 1,000 ft lower), snow comes and goes. If you're staying in Dorrington in January, pack snow boots.
Mile marker 5.2/55.8 on Hwy 4, between Arnold and Camp Connell at about 4,760 feet. Arnold is 15 minutes west, Camp Connell is 2 miles east, and Bear Valley is roughly 30 minutes further up.
Postally Dorrington, at 3431 Hwy 4 next to the Dorrington Hotel. Plenty of listings call it the Arnold area because that's the closest town with services. Locals just call it The Lube Room.
The post office was established in 1902 and named after Rebekah Dorrington Gardner, the widow of John Gardner, who had taken over the property (then called Cold Spring Ranch) in 1868. Local lore says she still haunts the Dorrington Hotel.
Yes. The Dorrington Hotel offers the historic hotel plus a cottage, sleeping up to 12. The Dorrington Inn rents private A-frame cabins across Highway 4. Both are walking distance to The Lube Room.
