Kirkwood is a census-designated place in Alpine County, California. Zack Kirkwood, a cattle rancher who had settled in the area, opened an inn, named Kirkwood's, in 1863 with the opening of the Amador/Nevada Wagon Toll Road, the primary route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The following year, Alpine County was created and the redrawing of the county borders placed the inn at the convergence of Alpine, El Dorado, and Amador counties (the borders were later changed so the inn is no longer in El Dorado County, but the original signpost marking the intersection of the three is still in the building). Eventually, the inn became a fashionable summer resort. After Zack's death, the inn stayed in the family and continued to operate until 1966, when it was sold to an investment group, who then converted it into the present-day Kirkwood Mountain Ski Resort. The original building (still standing) is registered as California Historical Landmark #40.