Lake Tahoe: the blue jewel between California and Nevada

Lake Tahoe sits at 1,900 metres in the Sierra Nevada, straddling California and Nevada. It’s 35 km long, and its water is of rare clarity: navy blue out in the middle, turquoise along the rocks. All around are pine forests and 3,000-metre summits.

History and origins

The lake lies in a trough opened by faults more than two million years ago, then dammed by lava flows. Nearly 500 metres deep, it’s the second-deepest lake in the United States, after Crater Lake.

The Washoe came here every summer for millennia. They called it “the big water”, and the word Tahoe is a corruption of that. In the 1860s, the silver mines of Nevada devoured the forests along the shores to shore up their tunnels. The trees have grown back since. The wealthy families of San Francisco then came to build their villas, and after them the ski resorts arrived, boosted by the 1960 Winter Olympics.

What to do there

• The drive around the lake: 116 km of road, with a different view at every bend. Allow three hours without stopping, a day with stops.
• Emerald Bay: the most famous bay, a deep green, with the lake’s only island. An overlook looks down on it from the road. Below, a Scandinavian-style villa from the 1920s can be visited in summer.
• Sand Harbor: on the Nevada side, a sandy beach between big round boulders, with the clearest water in the lake. It’s the dream spot for kayaking and paddleboarding.
• The southern beaches: long sandy beaches at South Lake Tahoe, more family-friendly and livelier.
• The trails: the Rubicon Trail follows the shore between two state parks, above transparent coves. Eagle Lake is a short climb to a small mountain lake.
• The Heavenly gondola: it leaves from the centre of South Lake Tahoe and rises to a platform from which you see the whole lake.
• Skiing: a dozen resorts surround the lake, including the former Olympic site.
• Stateline: the border runs through the middle of the town. On the Nevada side, the casinos begin at the very first metre.

Stories and good to know

• The lake never freezes: its volume of water is too great.
• You can see more than 20 metres down. That clarity has been declining since the 1960s, and the region spends a great deal to protect it.
• There are many black bears around the lake. Don’t leave anything edible in the car.
• Mark Twain, who camped here in 1861, saw in it “the fairest picture the whole earth affords”.

Practical information for your road trip

• Getting there: the lake is about 3 hrs 30 from San Francisco and an hour from Reno, which has an airport.
• In winter: the passes can close during storms, and chains are often required. Look at the state of the roads before you set off.
• Budget: it’s an expensive stop. Hotels in South Lake Tahoe and Truckee cost less than those on the waterfront.
• Where to stay: in the south for the bustle and the casinos, in the north and west for the quiet.
• Combine it with: Yosemite, about 4 hrs away via Tioga Pass, open only in summer.