You’re touring one of America’s great national parks while on a family vacation. You spot a picturesque clearing by a creek set against a mountain backdrop and think, “There it is. That’s where I’d build my dream home.”

Unfortunately, Uncle Sam is likely to object to your staking claim to a plot of U.S. parkland. However, you can explore home ownership at a place very similar, Martis Camp.

Located in Truckee, California—just minutes from Lake Tahoe’s North Shore—Martis Camp is located on 2,200 beautifully forested acres with stunning mountain views in every direction. It abuts pristine national forest land, which adds to the vastness of the property and its park-like aura. Estate homes— sprinkled carefully throughout this low-density community—boast one- to five-acre lots. Smaller cabin homesites are located near the club’s main amenities.

It’s a true four-seasons lifestyle at Martis Camp. The warmer months find residents hiking or biking on the expansive trail system, fishing, enjoying concerts at the open-air amphitheater or playing golf on the spectacular Tom Fazio golf course. The gracious Camp Lodge is currently under construction on a 70-foot rock precipice affording 270-degree views of the Carson Range to the east and Sierra Crest to the west. There’s no better way to unwind than with a glass of wine at sunset out on “the point.”

Winter, of course, means skiing. Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort™ is just next door. In fact, a high-speed ski lift is based out of Martis Camp. Just enjoy a cup of coffee in the warming hut, then click on your skis and you’re six minutes from the top of the mountain, which offers some of the most consistently excellent snow conditions in the West.

For now, year-round activities are centered around the Family Barn, which features a ’50s-style diner, an indoor basketball/sport court, arcade games, bowling lanes and art loft, where visiting faculty teach classes on subjects ranging from photography and oil painting to woodworking and quilting. There’s even a 42-seat movie theater.

The Fazio course is a rarity for mountain golf. It’s fairly classic in design with only gentle movement in the fairways—there are no wildly sloping fairways to send tee shots careening sideways, a characteristic that plagues so many mountain courses. It’s a course that just feels right. Viewing each hole, it’s easy to visualize the shape of the shot being played. As Fazio says, “The holes paint the picture of the intended shot.” And the artist did a superb job. The course is one of the West’s little-known gems. In fact, two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen calls it “the best Tom Fazio course I’ve ever played.”

Another trait that distinguishes the dramatic design is that there are no parallel fairways to speak of—each hole is its own, utterly memorable entity. The course stretches to more than 7,700 yards (it is at 6,000 feet of altitude), but generous fairways and the five to seven tee boxes on each hole combine to make it quite playable.

The greenside bunkering work is beautifully distinctive and multi-fingered, with the turf rolled back into the bunker. It adds teeth to the course and is visually intimidating, but there’s always room for a conservative play.

Speaking of visual stimulation, you’ll find plenty of it at Martis Camp. The views are simply stupendous. Although the entire course is a stunner, the back nine is particularly memorable. Taking advantage of the long summer days and playing nine holes on the back side after dinner is a singular experience. Holes play alongside Martis Creek. The effect of the evening light, the shadows on the mountains and the utter silence—except for the babbling of the creek—combine to make it a near-spiritual event.