Located in what is today the Tahoe National Forest, the Snow Tent site is on the San Juan Ridge roughly midway between North Bloomfield and Graniteville, about 16 miles northeast of Nevada City.

[1] Snow Tent lies on a rich bed of gold bearing gravel which runs from the San Juan Ridge in a southwesterly direction towards Hunt's Hill, You Bet, Dutch Flat and into Placer County.

It is not clear how extensive hydraulic mining was since it does not appear from Hartwell's 1880 map that any ditch brought water to Snow Tent.

[5] Hydraulic mining on the Ridge received a major blow from the 1884 Sawyer decision, which prohibited the discharge of tailings into the Yuba River.

[7] Mining required a lot of wood and Snow Tent lay amid rich pine forests.

[3] Beginning in 1851, Snow Tent had a general store operated by Furman, McIntyre & Co.[15] It also had a livery stable attached to the hotel.