Lake Tahoe is located 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, California, and 45 miles southwest of Reno, Nevada, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
Lake Tahoe is ideally situated between the great states of California and Nevada in the United States of America and includes the towns of Tahoe City, Incline Village, Truckee, Kings Beach, Squaw (Olympic) Valley, Alpine Meadows, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay, Crystal Bay, Brockway, Homewood, Tahoma, Meeks Bay, Meyers, Stateline, Northstar, and Zephyr Cove. Lake Tahoe is two-thirds in the state of California and one-third in the state of Nevada.
Lake Tahoe has a surface elevation of 6,229 ft, is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide, and has a shoreline 71 miles in length. With a surface area of 193 sq. mi. and an average depth of 989 feet, the total capacity of Lake Tahoe is 122,160,280 acre-ft of water! Surface lake temperatures range from 68°F in the summer, to 41°F during the winter. The only outlet is the Truckee River at Tahoe City. 63 streams and two hot springs feed the Lake. An average of 1,400,000 tons of water evaporates each day. If the water that evaporates from the lake could be recovered, it would supply the daily requirements of a city the size of Los Angeles.
Lake Tahoe is as long as the English Channel is wide. The Panama Canal, 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep, could be filled with Tahoe's water even if it circled the globe at the equator - and there would still be enough water left to fill a canal of the same size running from San Francisco to New York.
Locals generally divide the Basin into North Shore and South Shore, with West Shore and East Shore completing the geographic distinctions.
The summer's heat can raise the temperature of the upper 12 feet of water to 70 degrees Fahrenheit; Lake Tahoe never freezes in the winter though. This is due to the great depth of the lake. The sun shines at Lake Tahoe approximately 274 days a year. Shorts and T-shirts are typical summer day attire, but in the evenings, sweaters are advised for the cooler evenings.
Summer Recreation: Mountain biking, hiking, boating, golfing, horseback riding, fishing, river rafting, and camping.
Winter Recreation: Downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding at World class Resorts. Snowshoeing, sledding, and snowmobiling.
Dining & Nightlife: Elegant, four-star restaurants, great musical events and celebrity headliners.
