25 Places to visit before you die: No.14 Lake Tahoe

The Sierra Nevada Mountains, United States, are spectacularly natural beautiful, - a term that must be multiplied exponentially to encapsulate Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America. Located in the region along the border between California and Nevada, Lake Tahoe is an outdoorsman nirvana; great skiing country in the winter, incredible hiking and sailing in the spring and summer months. Think of outdoor America, think Lake Tahoe, a natural for inclusion in afterabc's list of, 25 Places to visit before you die. 

Tahoe is a fantastic all year holiday destination: The lake is about 22 miles (35 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide and has 72 miles (116 km) of shoreline, of which approximately 2/3  is in California including the lake's largest city, South Lake Tahoe. The Lake is very deep, -1,645 feet (501 m).

During the winter months the mountain slopes provide some of the best skiing in the world. There are many ski resorts in Tahoe and the most well known are the largest, - 'Heavenly Mountain Resort' that straddles the California and Nevada near the town of Stateline, and the world famous 'Squaw Valley' that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics and is located near Tahoe city.

The majority of the ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe region are on the northern end of the lake, near Truckee, California and Reno, Nevada.  However, the resorts of Kirkwood, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Heavenly are located on the southern side of the lake, approximately 80 miles (129 km) from Reno. It is common for visitors to ski amongst these 3 resorts when staying in Southern Lake Tahoe and not venture to the northern lake resorts such as; Squaw Valley, Northstar at Tahoe, Sugar Bowl, etc. The skiing at Lake tahoe is world class, but there are plenty of ski schools for the beginer.

 

 

 

 

The Lake is a great place for water sports during the late spring, to early autumn months, and if one lacks a boat there are plenty of lake-side restaurants to sit, eat relax and enjoy the views. Boats can be hired or guided boat tours taken. The lake is also great for scuba diving, but because of the extreme depths only really suitable for experienced advanced divers.  The more observant visitors may also spot Beavers, that were re-introduced to the Tahoe Basin between 1934 and 1949, and whose population has grown considerably.

Mountain biking and hiking opportunities abound in Tahoe including the 165 mile (270km) Rim Trail that circumnavigates the lake. Directly to the west of the lake is the Granite Chief Wilderness, which provides great hiking and wilderness camping, and to the southwest is the very popular Desolation Wilderness. Hiking and cycling gives visitors the best opportunity to appreciate the vegetation in the basin that is dominated by a mixed conifer forests of Jeffrey pine, lodge-pole pine, white fir and red fir.  The basin also contains significant areas of wet meadows and riparian areas, dry meadows, brush fields and rock outcrop areas, especially at higher elevations.

Film aficionados will remember that in The Godfather II, Michael Corleone, (brilliantly played by Al Pacino) had moved the family from New York to Nevada - Lake Tahoe. The Corleone compound seen in the film is actually, Fleur du Lac, located on the California side of Lake Tahoe, rather than on the Nevada side of the film. The scene of Fredo Corleone's execution is the lake itself. The family had moved to Nevada because of Gambling is legal on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. And in real life Casinos are very much a part of Lake Tahoe, located on the South Shore in Stateline, and on the North Shore in Crystal Bay and Incline Village. In many ways it was the construction of Casinos that began in the 1950s and the staging of the Winter Olympics in 1960 that resulted in the development of the area as a tourist destination. However, since the 1980s the growth in development has slowed due to tight controls on land use. Consequently Tahoe has maintained much of its beauty, but can and does provide fantastic facilities to visitors. 

The summer climate is mild,- August is normally the warmest month, with an average maximum of 78.7 °F (25.9 °C) and an average minimum of 39.8 °F (4.3 °C). January is the coolest month with an average maximum of 41.0 °F (5.0 °C) and an average minimum of 15.1 °F (-9.4 °C). Mean annual precipitation ranges from over 55 in (1,400 mm) in watersheds on the west side of the basin to about 26 inches (660 mm) near the lake on the east side of the basin. Most of the precipitation falls as snow between November and April.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 3 More Tahoe Ski Resorts to Open for Season (abcnews.go.com)

Disclaimer:
Has your comment not appeared? Try waiting a moment and then refresh the page. If it still doesn't appear and you've checked your comment meets the terms of our comment policy then contact afterabc admin with the details of your comment so we can look into it. If you wish to complain about a comment please contact the editor directly.