Lake Tahoe, straddling the border of California and Nevada in the High Sierra, is an easy slam dunk for 5 stars. Lake Tahoe has been called "the jewel of the Sierra." That is an incredibly accurate moniker. The lake sits in a bowl in the Sierra Nevada, and its surface is at an elevation of about 6,200 feet. The depth of the lake is said to be about 1,600 feet in its deepest spot, even though the beaches on the lake do not drop off very quickly. Approaches to Lake Tahoe are very dramatic and scenic, regardless of whether coming into the north shore or the south shore, and whether coming from California or Nevada. It does not matter.
Lake Tahoe usually has several postcard vistas associated with it: the panorama of it taken from Echo Summit when approaching from California, the casino strip at the Stateline, the vistas of Emerald Bay, and the vistas of the lake at about Incline Village NV and the mountains behind it. However, there are so many more vistas, and angles to them, given that the loop around the lake is about 71 miles.
Lake Tahoe is a year-round playground. During the summer, people partake in swimming, boating, hiking, and gambling, seeing shows, and eating and drinking on the south shore, where California meets Nevada at about 4 to 5 pm on the clock's diagram superimposed on the map of the lake. Granted, there is some tackiness there, with chain motels, chain supermarkets, various Starbucks, and souvenir shops. However, there is something stately about the compact Stateline area where one intersection puts a person over the Nevada state line and the stalwart that is Harrah's Hotel and Casino presides over the area with its 18 stories and restaurant at the top floor. During the winter, Lake Tahoe is a winter wonderland, with ski areas all around the lake ... some big and some small, some famous and some not so famous, and which can accommodate all levels of skiers and snowboarders. The most notable of these resorts would be Heavenly Valley, of which the base is right behind the Stateline area, and Squaw Valley, located on the north shore and the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
While most people tend to head for the Stateline area, there are a few casinos, such as the Hyatt and the Cal-Neva on the north shore near Incline Village. Incline Village NV and Tahoe City CA provide "exits" from the lake, with routes taking visitors about 15 or so miles north to I-80. Incline Village, previously the site of the Ponderosa Ranch venue from the "Bonanza" series, is an interesting area and possibly the lake's most genteel. Here, affluent types who want Nevada's tax benefits, yet want to live overlooking Lake Tahoe, have built mansions. Not only that, since they are most likely to be jet setters, they are geographically the closest to Reno-Tahoe International Airport in nearby Reno. Tahoe City is also picturesque and there are a lot of beautiful inns and residences, both to its north at Carnelian Bay and to its south at Homewood. In closing this counterclockwise loop back to the south shore is Emerald Bay, located on the lake's west shore on the California side. In looking at Emerald Bay, with its crystalline waters, its length, its narrow entrance, and tiny Fannette Island, it's almost as if Mother Nature really overworked her imagination. The south shore "exits" from the lake utilize US 50, either over Echo Summit to Sacramento or down Spooner Summit into Carson City NV, in which pines give way to sagebrush in all of about 15 minutes. It's all good. It's all breathtaking. Be sure to see it.
Just like some people may leave a piece of their heart, or all of it, in San Francisco, some people may do the same with Lake Tahoe. Most people probably wouldn't forget their "first time" with regard to Lake Tahoe. With my teenage friends, it was a part of "the triangle," a rite of passage and emancipation for Southern California high school graduates armed with drivers' licenses who venture to make the triangular trip between the L.A. area, Lake Tahoe, and the Bay Area, surveying the Central Coast in the process. My first view of Lake Tahoe was from a pullout on US 50 as it descended from Echo Summit toward the lake's south shore. It's as if that image is indelibly etched into my head! read more