Nyack Shell Convenience Store

Horrible place to go for the snow! All porta potties were filled to the rim in feces and pee. Not much room to sled, just a few small hills, it gets crowded fast which doesn’t help the already small snow area situation. Would not go back.

Really friendly people and good prices for gas and knick knacks, for the most part. The convenience store has every kind of snack you could want, plus beer and wine. Burger King is attached to the convenience store. They have a postal annex and an ATM and Lotto machine as well, plus picnic areas across the road. In the winter months, there is a huge Snow Park installed across from the station, with free admission (paid parking) for tubing, sledding, saucer rides, etc. Great place to take the kids for the snow park, then walk across the parking lot to Burger King for lunch, or for hot chocolate in the convenience store. The Nyack Shell website has links for weather and road conditions if you’re heading that way and need an update.
The snow park URL is

This gas station has super clean bathrooms and a great selection of snacks and drinks. There is even a post office next door in case you need to mail something

Great place to stop on way up to Reno or Tahoe. Good gas prices and lots of snacks and some homemade snacks too. Even have some knick knacks… Recommended stop to stretch and get some goodies for the road. Even have a Burger King connected if you have a fast food craving

This Shell station racks in the bucks because of dumb people like myself who did not heed the winter storm warnings or the 10,000 signs that told me I will need chains for my tires. Anyway, I was mildly irate having to stop and pay the $ 70 for the chains and the $ 20 to get someone to put them on, but it was a good experience, people were friendly and the station has some really cool posters and old photos to look at as I waited in line for an hour behind the countless others like me who thought «eh it’s just a little snow». I’m grateful for them stopping me for the chains as there was no way my little Corolla would have made it!

This is a cool place to stop in the Fall, Spring or Summer months. Great convenience store with the look and feel of a nostalgic General Store with lots of stuff for kids to look at. Good gasoline and service station museum pieces on display.
Nice «picnic park» on the hill opposite the Burger King, complete with a totem pole.

We drove up from Roseville to let our dogs play in the snow. When we got home, our son informed us that he had dropped his PS game in the snow… I called the Nyack Shell hoping someone found it and turned it in, someone did! Emma and Sam were so nice and promised they would hold it for us until we could make it back up… we picked it up today and we so appreciate the kindness of strangers!!!

Good for kids & dogs!
Came here last weekend on the recommendation of my parents neighbor. We wanted our 2 year old to have his first snow day but didn’t want to drive all the way to Tahoe or spend a bunch at a resort. Neighbors mentioned above have 5 kids so I had my dad ask about the closest & cheapest place figuring they would be in the know. So we head out from the bay area Friday afternoon & crashed at my parents in the Sac area. Got up & loaded up Sat am. The drive only took about an hour & the place was only moderately full when we got there. We were told about the $ 10 entry ahead of time so we were prepared. Since our kid crashed out on the drive, we pulled over next to the gas station & let our dogger girl out to stretch her legs. Also her first time in the snow & she loved it! We chased around a while until he woke up then got him into the snow. It’s not a big area but there seem to be lots of little spots to explore. Broke for lunch at Burger King, which I never recommend. That place is too small for the amount of foot traffic it gets & well, its crap food. No different then any other BK. Tastes pretty good going in but always creeps up later. So back to the snow after lunch w/​our 2 & 4 legged babies. We enjoyed running around and playing in the snow for a bit then a quick drive back to my parents.
This place is great for young kids. I saw a lot of little ones on sleds or tubes or just exploring. They are also cool with dogs which is always a bonus. We saw 2 other dogs there & not once did the guys running the place say a word or give an odd look. They sort of just expect everyone to behave themselves here. They also have some pretty cool old gas pumps & gas station memorabilia inside the shell. This place was definitely worth the $ 10. I just recommend you pack food instead of hitting up BK.

Fun spot to go for the day. Good food, Snow was great and people at the station were very helpful! I would go back for sure next snow fall!

We came here because my husband’s coworker said that there is a very small hill for kids to go see the snow and to do some free sledding right next to the Shell gas station. Okay so we packed up the kids and our gear, and we made the 3.5 hour drive there. When we get there, we notice a tow truck parked outside, and the small sledding hill area was roped off. When we tried to drive toward the parking lot, the tow truck guys said that it would cost $ 10 to park, and we had to sign a waiver.
Yep, we missed that cost information from my husband’s coworker so we’re not sure if the tow truck guys were running a scam or not. The parking lot was crowded, and not everyone had the orange parking permit displayed in their car’s dash that the tow truck guys had handed back to us for our car. If anyone else knows if this is legitimate or not then please Unilocal about it as we would hate to get bamboozled again if we were to go back up there again and also so other Unilocalers don’t get bamboozled either.
A daily sno park permit to a California state park is $ 5 for a daily permit, but these guys charged $ 10 for their «orange sno park permit.» Perhaps we did get bamboozled. Anyway, after the long drive, we were too tired to argue. We just wanted our kids to experience their first moments in the snow and for them to go sledding.
We spent about two hours there where both of my kids were happy seeing the snow for the first time. That was priceless. As far as being in a crowded area where a girl ran over my girl with her sled, well that was very painful to watch. The girl didn’t even apologize after knocking and running her over so be forewarned that there are all types of people here. But seeing my little girl just brush it off like nothing made me proud of her, and my kids, hubby, and I walked at least 15 minutes away up the hill and found our own private sledding hill to cause ruckus on for two hours.
Everyone leaves before or at six when it gets dark. We left at six, and we were one of few last remaining cars leaving the roped off parking area. The tow truck guys were gone as well so I guess if you wanted to sled for free without paying for the parking then you can come after 6 p.m. But it will be dark and kind of eerie.
You can gas up before you leave. Burger King is next door to the Nyack Shell Convenience Store so you can grab a snack or meal. So all in all it was a Saturday late afternoon/​evening decently spent with the family. Hopefully, if you go you won’t have to pay for parking or have your kids get run over by other kids on their sleds.

We came here because our radiator broke. and needed some tools for a quick-​fix. I called in first to make sure they had the tools we needed to spare unnecessary miles in case we drove there and they didn’t have the goods. When I called, someone promptly answered the phone. The man said he was pretty sure they carried the stuff, and before I could say anything he offered to place me on hold while he made sure. «Yes! Thanks!» I can appreciate the gesture of going the extra mile! So we came, and sure enough the gas station there was crazy packed that day. We picked up everything we needed, plus a few cups of delicious hot cocoa. =)
I would have given this place a high 5 star rating if it wasn’t for the ridiculous long line for the ladies’ room!
There is a Burger King adjacent to the convenience store. But the line for this was even LONGER! I waited about 45 minutes in line just to place an order! If the line goes out the door, I wouldn’t recommend waiting guys. They ran out of things like buns, ketchup, and chicken strips. Nevertheless, the workers there were energetic and patient with the grumpy customers! the cashier even said that that day wasn’t that bad! That’s so insane. Just buy some snacks from the gas station!

It’s a nice place to stop in a place with few options. Bought some food and ice, which was priced reasonably, as was the gas, given the remote location. A Burger King next door is a great resource for the hungry.

There is a place high in the mountains just off the mountain pass that is snowy when no other place is snowy. At this magical place you can procure fuel for your chariot, foodstuffs for the journey ahead, liquid refreshments, trinkets in the native motif and items bearing the crest of the regional governing body. There is land for chariots of great size and I’m told the King of Burger himself resides at this place. Come hither, wayward traveler and find thy respite.

Yep I am one of those idiots that waited till here to buy chains… 68 freaking signs on the way that tell you to be ready to chain up, and I wait till I get here.
Anyway, I got the cable type chains, price was $ 68 dollars, checked online when I got home, the price was pretty reasonable; they could gouge the customer and charge pretty much what they want. You don’t have much choice once you reach this“point of no return“
Gas prices seemed pretty fair for this high up. Coffee was good, restrooms were clean enough. All in all a decent place to stop on the way to Reno

The people at Nyack shell put up with all kinds of idiots. Particularly the ones below discussing chains… how many cities did you pass BEFORE you hit Blue Canyon? lol Also, Most of you are from northern california. its not like you couldnt have picked up chains at your local walmart when you KNEW it was snowing up North.
I will give a thumbs up to Nyack Shell. I had several occassions met with them and they were always very pleasant and helpful. When I was younger, I had many personal problems and found myself literally abandoned in Nyack… the folks here allowed me to use their phone to make several calls, use their facilities and fed me while waiting over 8 hours for help to get to me.
As a much older adult, I always stop by this shell when I’m up north. Whether I need to or not, I always buy something to return the good deed that they did for me.

cracking up over all these city-​idiots who wait till Nyack to get chains, most likely have no idea of their correct tire size and then whine. Lesson, when you buy the chains, go to your car and read the tire size again on your car. MAKE SURE they are the correct size for the actual tire you have on your inadequate Pruis or whatever you are driving over Donner Summit. The people who work at Nyack Shell put up with stupid all day long, and do a darn fine job at it.

Once you pass a certain elevation you’ll notice that gas prices rise with said elevation. So it’s not a good deal up here, but it is one of the few gas stations in the area. The charm comes from the fact that they have Shell artifacts like a gas trolley from yesteryear, and strangely, quotes put up and signed by celebrities like Sean Penn and Robin Williams on their walls.

Had a little problem with this place. Besides being very rude and unhelpfull they sold me the wrong size chains. Never having needed chains before I didn’t know. Anyway went up the road, had to stop to put them on. There was a very nice cal-​trans person there and he attempted to put them on for me. Well guess what they wouldn’t fit. They were to small. With the help of the cal-​trans person I was able to get turned around. He led me down the hill back to this rip off place and with his help I returned the chains and got a full refund. I will never stop at that super ripoff place again even if I have to pee, will stop alongside the road before stopping there again.