One Family’s Guide to Lake Tahoe

How to know if this guide is for you and your family.

1. Do you love the outdoors?
2. Are you happiest in the sun?
3. Do you like adventure?
4. Are you all about finding joy in the small things?

Then this guide is for you.

We decided to take a road trip to Lake Tahoe. It coincided with a conference my husband needed to go to. More on that in the next post because it was so awesome and I need to share it with our outdoor community.

We threw our bikes and kayaks on, hopped in the car and found ourselves pulling into Olympic Village that evening. Why did we choose Olympic Village? Frankly, it was close to the conference which was held at the Resort at Squaw Creek, the price was right for our vrbo and the location ended up being perfect.

That evening we found the Olympic rings and grabbed dinner at the local pizza place Fireside Pizza Company. We highly recommend it.

Over the next several days we went stand up paddle boarding, mountain biking, biking and kayaking. We downloaded the MtnBike App and it was very helpful in finding rides that fit what we wanted to do.

Here is a small list of things we would not want to miss. Hopefully this can help you plan your perfect Lake Tahoe vacation.

Emerald Bay was well worth the drive. It is north of Tahoe City and took us about 30-35 minutes to drive there. You do have to pay a parking fee of $3/hour or $10/day. From the parking lot, there are amazing views of Lake Tahoe and the little island out in the middle. There is a steep one-mile hike on a paved path for those wishing to get down to the beach. I suggest a wheeled cooler if this is what you choose to do. There are boat tours out to the island where you can explore the castle. Daily tours run from 10:30am-4:00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the visitor’s center. Adults are $15, students/military $1 and under 7 is free. There are toilets out on the island, but no water. Drones are not allowed.

There is a beautiful 19-mile bike path that runs from Olympic Village all the way into Tahoe City. It is paved and goes right next to the river. This makes a great day activity. When you get to Tahoe City you can grab a frozen yogurt or ice cream, lunch (in that order), then head down to the beach for the day. You can’t miss the beach. We ate at Blue Agave (not a favorite) and Rosie’s Café (which is delicious).

Mountain biking was amazing and plentiful. I would love to spend a week mountain biking in this area. We hit the trails and settled on a ride called Antone Meadows. It was very doable for our family (mom, dad, 17 and 13 year olds). There was some uphill, but it was not too steep and the trail was maintained beautifully. I think 10 and up would do great. If they have mountain biked before, even younger. We did hit snow on the trail, but give it a day or two and it will be all melted out.

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Grab the SUP’s and do not miss going to Sand Harbor for an afternoon. We spent 4 hours out paddling around the shore enjoying the amazing crystal clear waters. This lake is so clear allowing people to see up to 70 feet down. I was in awe the entire time. We paddled out to some rocks and had lunch there. There are several areas where kids are jumping off into the water. I knew 2 kids in high school who were paralyzed from cliff jumping so to my kids dismay, I shut that down pretty quick when I heard a local kid saying, “You just have to be sure not to hit the rocks on either side.” Get there before 10am to ensure you get a parking spot. We had to pay cash or check. It was $10 for the day. Take the first entrance coming from Tahoe City if you have hard bottom boats. Inflatables need to take the second entrance.

Take a morning to pull out the kayaks and head to Meeks Bay. It is fairly quiet in the morning and picks up momentum as the day goes on. We paddled to our left as we left the bay. Be sure to turn around and look up at the beautiful snow topped mountains. It is a sight to behold. Take a lunch, blanket and an umbrella to relax and eat when you return. We took out sea kayaks and it was much easier for me than the ducky we used earlier.

Spend an afternoon in Olympic Village. The 1960 Olympics were held here. You can eat at the fabulous pizza place, ride the tram up to the top and enjoy the different activities there. We happened to be here on a night where there was live Jazz playing so we listened to the music, watched the 60’s generation dance up a storm and played a giant game of chess. All in all a great ending to our stay.

Our trip was short and sweet but definitely got us planning a return visit where we can do even more hiking, biking and SUPing.

Tahoe Tips:

1. We had to pay cash several times for parking.
2. Watch for animals. We saw a coyote on 2 separate nights.
3. Be sure to use sunblock and drink lots of water.
4. You typically cannot park on the street near the beach entrances.
5. It is 72-miles around the lake (if you are into road biking).
6. Thursday mornings there is a farmer’s market in Tahoe City down on the beach 8am-noon.
7. There are an abundance of places that rent SUP’s, bikes and anything else you may need to adventure.
8. Purchase a bike trail/hiking map and keep it with you while doing these activities.
9. The mountain bike trail we did was wonderful and so easy to follow. It had signs and maps throughout the entire area. Bravo!