Lake Tahoe (Overview)

I exited

Rt. 80

in the town of

Truckee, CA.

I turned south
and
headed for Lake Tahoe.

At a depth of 1,645 feet, Lake Tahoe is the world's 10th deepest lake! It is also the 2nd deepest in the United States of America. (Crater Lake in Oregon beats it with a depth of 1,945 feet.)

Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe are both mountain lakes with many similarities. Their waters exhibit exceptional turbidity. The lakes are clean and crystal clear, with a blueish hue. However, the season at Crater Lake is much shorter. (Please go back to my very first blog post and read about my visit to Crater Lake, Oregon.)

At Tahoe, swimming and water sports are generally a summer thing. During the fall and winter months the water temperature drops considerably and hypothermia is a concern. Still, Lake Tahoe does not freeze! And being surrounded by evergreen trees and mountain peaks, the vistas do not change much until the first snows in December...

In Lake Tahoe, the snow season is even bigger than the summer season. And with it come the crowds. Prices double and snow makes sightseeing difficult. I planned my route to come through Tahoe in November. This is an in-between time. The trade-off being the historic mansions (such as Vikingsholm and Pine Lodge) are closed for the season. However, the state parks which operate them are still open and deserted. I basically had Tahoe to myself (and a few European tourists).

Several world-class ski resorts dot the California and Nevada hinterlands of Lake Tahoe. The most famous is Squaw Valley. The 1960 Winter Olympics were held in this small alpine valley. Also known as Olympic Valley, it retains the distinction of being the only US community to host this event.