Tahoe Blues: A Summer Guide to Spending 4 Days in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America, truly is a majestic oasis.
I was always in awe when I saw images of people drifting through the lake’s clear, turquoise water. The rocky surface underneath was so conspicuous, it as if people could float through thin air. In the back of my mind, I always thought that the water only looked like that because people had fancy camera and editing equipment; there was no way it actually looked like that in real life.
Now that I’ve finally had the chance to visit Lake Tahoe, I realized that it does, indeed, look as spectacular as it does in the pictures. Of course, advanced equipment is required in order to sufficiently capture the beauty of it all. But even with my heightened expectations, I was taken aback by the breathtaking blue hues - the deep blue water mirroring the sky, the indigo snow-capped mountains, and the bright turquoise waters situated along the coast. California is full of many wonders: Yosemite National Park, Pacific Coast sunsets, beautiful Malibu coastlines. I’ve seen all of that, but I would say Lake Tahoe blew away my expectations like no other.
Even if you’ve already decided on Lake Tahoe as your destination, it can be tough to know how to get started on planning. I’m certainly guilty of wanting to make sure I maximize my time and hit all the best spots. In this blog, I’ll share all the highlights during my time in Lake Tahoe, including some of my learnings, to make the planning process as effortless as possible.
When to visit
I decided to go to Lake Tahoe in May, and was very happy with that decision. April-May is the cusp between the summer and winter months, which allowed for a gorgeous temperate climate (resulting in ideal hiking weather!). It also seemed as though there were practically no tourists there, which allowed for reasonable prices, easy reservations at restaurant, and no lines. We had all the time in the world to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted without the fear of competing with other visitors. The only caveat was that Lake Tahoe received record levels of snowfall during the previous winter months, and the snow had still not completely come the end of May. This meant that the Heavenly gondola and some of the hikes were closed down, so we didn't get to do everything we wanted this trip. But it wasn’t a huge deal for us - there’s so much to do in Lake Tahoe, some of my favorite parts of the trip were the times that we improvised the day of. I also appreciated that that I was able to relax more than normal this trip, as we weren’t constantly moving from one thing to the next. Another thing to keep in mind for May is that both the air and the water are still quite cold, so it was not the best time to participate in water activities. We still swam around in the lake, but it was more like a cold plunge than anything else!
I would say that the summer months (late June - August) have the ideal temperatures for a summer trip to Lake Tahoe, but on the flip side you are at the mercy of the higher crowds and prices. If you do choose to do this route, it is best to plan your trip with enough time in advance.
I think it also goes without saying that if you hope to ski in Lake Tahoe, it is best for you to go during the winter months. That’s what I admire so much about Lake Tahoe - it truly is a great place to visit year-round. You could visit once during the summer, and see it in an entirely new light during the winter. But for the purposes of this blog, we will be focusing primarily on visiting Lake Tahoe during the summer.
Where to stay
With a circumference of 72 miles, deciding on a location to stay near Lake Tahoe can be daunting. Incline Village, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, and Olympic Valley are among the more popular options to stay around the lake.
There is the option to stay in multiple locations throughout your vacation, but I would not recommend this for first-timers. I ended up staying in South Lake Tahoe, which is typically recommended for those visiting Tahoe for the first time over the Summer. It is in close proximity to Emerald Bay, there are plenty of activities in the area, and the Heavenly Mountain Resort is right at your fingertips. We stayed at the Marriott Grand Residence Club, which we actually booked through AirBnb. We loved the location, and particularly enjoyed the heated pool, hot tub, and variety of games scattered throughout the hotel. If I ever go back to Lake Tahoe, I would want to stay there again.
Incline Village is also a fantastic option to enjoy the beautiful beaches and summer activities, but it is also known to be a very expensive area. Based on what I’ve seen and read about, South Lake Tahoe seems to be the best bang for your buck. Plus, you’ll still have the opportunity to explore all of the areas throughout your time in Lake Tahoe!
Of course, the location you decide to stay in may also decide on the season you decide to visit. If you come during the winter months, South Lake Tahoe and Olympic Valley maybe the more obvious options, as those areas are where the ski resorts are located.
What to bring
Bathing suit
Activewear
Hiking shoes
Jacket/sweatshirt (it gets cooler at night)
Hat
Nice clothes for dinner
Sunscreen and aloe
Cash (some beaches require you to pay an entrance fee with cash only)
Portable charger
Moisturizer and lip balm (the air is very dry)
Trail snacks
Highly recommend renting a car
4-Day Itinerary
Day Zero: Arrive in San Francisco, drive to Lake Tahoe
To start off the trip, we decided to fly into San Francisco International Airport to initially spend a few days in San Francisco. I have some family and colleagues who lives in Palo Alto and San Francisco, so I was able to use my time in California for multiple purposes. The drive from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe is about three and a half hours, which definitely makes for a pretty long road trip. But if you want to hit both places while you’re in California, it is certainly very doable.
There are many great things to do if you decide to spend some time in San Francisco. We particularly enjoyed seeing the seals at Pier 39, strolling around the Palace of Fine Arts, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, grabbing lunch at The Spinnaker in Sausalito, marveling at the redwood trees in Muir Woods, and viewing the Golden Gate Bridge from multiple vantage points. I even had the best chocolate almond croissant I’ve ever had in my life at Arsicault bakery (which had a long line, but it was worth it). Of course there are a million other things to do in San Francisco, but those were my favorite experiences during the time I was there.
After spending a few days in the Golden Gate city, it was time to make our trek over to Lake Tahoe. With our favorite Spotify playlist to keep us going, it was a fairly enjoyable and effortless drive. By the time we made it to Lake Tahoe, it was time to check into the hotel and grab dinner. We decided to do a more casual meal for the first night at an outdoorsy brewery called the Hangar. I really loved my beer, and the atmosphere was exactly what you’d expect for a place like Lake Tahoe. In typical native East-Coaster fashion, it didn’t take long for us to finish our meal before we were ready to knock out by 9 PM PDT.
Note: I only recommend flying into San Francisco if you’d like to spend some time there before or after Lake Tahoe. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport is a much closer alternative - it’s only about an hour drive away from Lake Tahoe.
Day One: Explore Emerald Bay
One thing about me is that I love a good sunrise. You get to see a place in the most beautiful light, and then you have the entire rest of the day to pack in more activities! Lake Tahoe’s sunrise surely did not disappoint.
To watch the sunrise, we drove over to Emerald Bay, which was about a 30 minute drive away from our hotel. We initially wanted to stop at Inspiration Point, but the entrance to the parking lot was blocked off. To be fair, the view was also pretty obscured by the trees. Instead we decided to stop at a random pull out spot along the road, which had a spectacular view of the emerging sun’s pink and gold light being reflected off of Emerald Bay’s turquoise waters. We were also accompanied by a few professional-looking photographers, so we figured we were in the right place! This was one of my favorite memories from the trip.
Once the sun rose higher into the sky, we decided to fuel up for the day’s hikes with some breakfast! I knew the perfect place to go - Heidi’s Pancake House. Opened in 1964, Heidi’s Pancake House is as authentic as it gets. With fresh ingredients and a huge selection of mouthwatering options, it was exactly what we needed to energize us for the rest of the day. I got the Emerald Bay skillet with home fries, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, avocado, and feta cheese. Of course, James and I had to split the pancakes, which were piled high with fruit and whipped cream.
After leaving with a slight food coma, we made our way back to Emerald Way, where we did a quick hike to Eagle Falls (about 2 miles round trip). The trail also takes you to Eagle Lake, but unfortunately the still unmelted snow blocked our path, so we were unable to continue the trail. It was a beautiful, easy hike - which made it the perfect warm up for the rest of the trip.
Once we made it back to the car, we drove about 2 minutes over to the parking lot for Vikingsholm, a grand castle built in 1929 boasting beautiful Scandinavian architecture. The hike from the parking lot to the castle was short but very steep (which didn’t make an easy trip back up to the car). Once we made it to the castle, we spent a few minutes walking around and examining it. It isn’t very big so it doesn’t take much time to see everything, but tours are available for those who are interested in seeing the interior.
For me, the real star of the show was being able to rent kayaks to go to Fannette Island: the small island located right in the middle of Emerald Bay. Rentals were $25 per person for an hour, and it was worth every minute. Once we made it to the island, we had some difficulty parking the kayak thanks to the jagged rocks and huge amounts of bird droppings we had to avoid. But once we made it to the top of the hill, you'‘ll see a small Tea House that perfectly framed the blue expanse of water. It made for a wonderful photo opportunity, but just be wary of splinters!
Once we dropped off our kayaks and hiked our way back up the mountain to our car, we still had plenty of time left in the day. To fill the time, we decided to explore the area via bike. There are plenty of bike rental options, but we decided to go with Tahoe Bike and Ski Company purely out of convenience. The staff was very friendly, but I will say the location may not have been the most convenient at that specific time period. Flooding from the melting snow blocked off the bike trails, which meant we had to traverse through busy streets to get to our end location: the Tahoe Keys Marina. Also a pro tip: definitely check the weather before you decide to embark on any journeys away from shelter. On our way back from the Marina we got rained and hailed on (of all things!), which did not make for the most enjoyable journey back. But on the bright side, we didn’t get charged for the extra half hour we rented the bikes out for!
For dinner, we decided to check out a few breweries, which proved to actually be quite productive. We ate dinner and chatted with the friendly staff at Cold Water Brewery and Grill. Then we checked out Sidellis Lake Tahoe, where we chatted with some local residents who gave us great suggestions for the rest of our trip (many of which we actually took due to the snow still covering the trails). Lastly, we satisfied our sweet tooth at the Baked Bear, which had the most delicious ice cream sandwiches. To cap off the day, we watched the sunset at a nearby beach - watching the sun drop behind the mountains we had seen it emerge from that very morning.
Day Two: Boat Day and Hikes
If I’m being honest, our second full day in Lake Tahoe ended up looking very different from what I initially had planned. If everything had gone as planned, we would have hiked Mount Tallac Trail, which is an advanced 10-mile out and back hike that takes you to one of the highest vantage points of the lake. But with the snow still covering the trail, we were warned that it would be hazardous during this time of the year. In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t end up doing that!
Instead, the day’s agenda took a more relaxing turn. We decided to rent a boat from Tahoe Sports Ski Run Boat Company, which gave us a discount due to the hotel we were staying at. This impromptu decision to rent the boat was actually may favorite part of the entire trip. Ours was the only boat on the lake; we had the entire 191.6 square miles to ourselves. The staff teaches you how to drive the boat, allows you to connect your phone to the radio, and then lets you loose into the open water. Even though the water was extremely cold, we still took the liberty of doing a natural cold plunge into the water. Though the air outside was colder than I would have liked, it didn’t take long for the sun to warm us up. We spent about two hours in the bluest water I have ever seen in my life; I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Once we returned back to land, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and got lunch at Sprouts - a healthy restaurant (which was very welcome after all the food we had been eating) that had smoothies so good, we went there for a second time on our way out of Lake Tahoe.
We knew we had dinner reservations that night, so didn’t want to venture too far from the area. The next hike we did was Cave Rock Trail, which apparently is one of the best places to watch the sunset. We didn’t get the chance to see the sunset here, but it still did provide a stunning vantage point of the lake. It was a quick hike - probably also another 2 miles round trip.
Before dinner, we returned to the hotel to make use of the pool, hot tub, and foosball table. Then it was finally time to make our way over to Edgewood Restaurant, which was one of the most beautiful restaurants I’ve ever been to. It is definitely more on the pricier side, but totally worth the splurge if you’re up to it. Windows covered the walls from floor to ceiling, making it quite the spectacle during sunset. The food was also incredible, and the staff made excellent suggestions on which wines to pair the food with. I had high expectations for the restaurant, and they were definitely exceeded (which seemed to be a common theme for this trip in general). If you do want to go to Edgewood Restaurant, just be sure to make reservations with enough time in advance!
Day Three: Drive around Lake Tahoe
Our decision to drive around the entire lake on our third day was also pretty last-minute, mainly because we didn’t even realize that it was possible to do all in one day. But if you drive without stopping anywhere, it is actually possible to drive around it all in about two and a half hours. But of course there were many places we wanted to stop, so it ended up taking us pretty much the entire day.
The first place we decided to stop was a must-see for anyone aspiring to visit Lake Tahoe. We drove to the parking lot for Chimney Beach, which provides a beautiful stretch of sandy beach and large boulders. If you hike down to the water, you can see glimpses of Tahoe’s iconic crystal clear water. We hiked along the water for about a half mile all the way to Secret Cove, which was one of the most breathtaking beaches I had ever seen. If you look up pictures of Lake Tahoe, most likely the pictures you see were taken specifically from this location. Out of all the places I had seen in Lake Tahoe, this is where the water was the clearest and had the most magnificent turquoise color. We spent about two hours just climbing along the rocks, admiring the natural beauty. But do be warned that clothing is optional!
The next place we stopped at was yet another glorious beach called Sand Harbor. The entry fee was $15 cash only, so make sure you remember to bring cash. The water was also very picturesque, and complemented the golden sand very nicely. There is a nice trail to walk along the water, but we didn't have enough time to do the whole thing.
Based on our research on Lake Tahoe, we knew that paddle boarding at least once was a must. It wasn’t difficult to locate a place to rent paddle boards, and there were options for kayaking and other activities as well. We paid $35 per person for one hour in total. This was personally my first time ever paddle boarding, but it wasn’t too difficult to get the hang of. There were many different locations to paddle out towards; you could even go as far as Secret Cove if you wanted to. But we knew we were on a tighter schedule if we wanted to continue driving around the lake, so we just paddled out to the first suggested landmark. The entire time, I felt so at peace watching as drifted over the rocks through the transparent water. There was a moment when I just sat there taking in the scenery. I loved how the dark indigo, snow-capped mountains reflected off the water; just a jagged border separating the royal blue of the water from the sky itself.
I honestly could have spent all day at Sand Harbor, but unfortunately time did not permit. Once we returned our paddle boards and washed off, we were back on the road. At this point it was already late afternoon, so we were starting to get very hungry. We only had one destination in mind, thanks to our good ole’ friends from the brewery: a restaurant called Bridgetender, located along the Truckee River. The Truckee River is the only river that flows out of Lake Tahoe, and contains a healthy population of rainbow trout. A nearby bridge was famously nicknamed" “Fanny Bridge,” because people could count how many tourists were in the area by how many backsides were counted (due to people peering over to gaze at the river). There were a variety of delectable burger options to choose from; I particularly enjoyed my burger with a delicious blueberry BBQ sauce that they offered.
After lunch, we continued the rest of our journey around the lake. There weren’t too many other places to stop at on the other side - we continued the rest of the way without stopping. We drove back through Emerald Bay, but didn't feel the need to stop again since we had seen much of the area on our first day. We continued until we made it back to the hotel, where continued to make use of the pool and hot tub.
Our last dinner of the trip was definitely my favorite one at all. It had been highly anticipated, as I knew it would be a very special experience. The restaurant was Cafe Fiore, an endearing Italian restaurant in the form of a cozy cabin. It can be hard to get reservations, as the restaurant only seats seven parties at a time. I called the restaurant over the phone in about a month in advance to make the reservation. The service was exceptional, and I can confidently say that the food was among the best Italian I have ever had (which is saying a lot). The couple sitting next to us was celebrating their wedding anniversary, and strongly encouraged us to get the white chocolate ice cream for dessert. We originally did not have any plans to get dessert, but felt obliged based on their strong recommendation. It truly was as good as they had described! If only I could Uber Eats it from Lake Tahoe to NYC…
Day Four: Heavenly Gondola and Adventure Park and Leave Lake Tahoe
Before we knew it, our last day in Lake Tahoe had finally crept up on us. I was not ready to leave, but knew it was for the best upon feeling my raging sunburn (we had forgotten to bring sunscreen). Today would have been the day we would have liked to get the ultimate vantage point of the lake by taking the Heavenly gondola up to the top of the Sierra Nevada mountain. During the summer, you can enjoy hiking trails, a climbing wall, a mountain coaster, and even a zipline! But unfortunately the gondola did not open for the summer until June 16, so we had just missed the opening date. But that just gives us another reason to go back!
Instead, we were still able to make great use of our time by exploring Heavenly Village at the base of the mountain, where there are a number of great stores you can stroll into and places where you can grab a quick bite or drink. We also drove out to a really cool cafe called Cuppa Tahoe, which served dual purposes as a coffee shop and bookstore. You could see many people in there drinking their coffee while also enjoying a book by the most homey-looking fireplace. It was the ultimate WFH setup!
After we felt that we had explored enough of the area, it was time to begin our journey back to San Francisco (but not without grabbing another smoothie from Sprouts first)! We did end up hitting traffic on the way back, so the trip ended up taking a total of 5 hours, including gas and bathroom breaks.
As the perfect conclusion to our California excursion, we grabbed burgers and fries from In-N-Out and watched the sunset at Baker Beach. One thing you can’t deny about California: they sure do have some amazing sunsets. As I watched the sun slip behind the ocean, I felt at peace with the spectacular close to our trip. But just like the promise of a sunrise the following morning, I’m sure I’ll be back one day.
Conclusion
Thank you to all who took the time to read my blog! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that you were able to extract some value. If you are a nature lover and/or have any desire to visit Lake Tahoe, I strongly encourage that you do so. Please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts on the information contained in the blog. Happy traveling!