We earlier had no plans to drive to Lake Tahoe … after all, I was intimidated by the 70 miles drive from Reno that I read somewhere. This brochure below changed everything … the drive between Reno and Lake Tahoe is touted as the Most Beautiful Drive in America.
Mark Twain calls Tahoe “the fairest picture the while earth affords”.
The view that greeted us was awesome. Not only is the blue lake looked beautiful but the fact that the lake is ringed by mountains gives us a great drive as we drive over the hills and down to the lake shore.
Lake Tahoe is a immensely large freshwater alpine lake. It is also one of the deepest lake in the world. There are so much water here that it is enough to cover the entire state of California to a depth of 14 inches.
Lake Tahoe is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides.
The lake is said to be 99.99% pure. For a place where there are so many visitors, it was hard to believe that they could maintain this level of clarity. This is so clear that a white plate can be seen up to 80 feet deep.
For us, the most spectacular drive is at this point where it is so surreal … the road is so narrow with steep drops on both sides. Moreover, on both sides, we can see water all round.
Our favourite view is from the Inspiration Point Vista. At that bay there was this little island which has a small building at the top. The building is now abandoned.
Oh, I totally agree that this is one of the amazingly beautiful drives in Northern CA!! and I;d like to recommend Sprouts Natural Cafe for anyone planning to spend a day or more at Tahoe! its a vegan cafe but the food is great!! Their burgers are my favourite!!
-Mansi
I lived up there for about 6 months a few years ago…..I LOVE IT THERE.
I love that drive. When my grandfather feels like gambling, we usually stay in Tahoe for the scenery.
Wondering if you guys had trouble breathing/felt dizzy there? My mom said she did from the altitude and they had to leave right away. Thinking about going up there on my trip but don’t want to be dizzy…and alone on a narrow road!
Hi Jessica: It was pretty normal for us. Until you mention it, I did not even occur to us that it is that high. I really don’t think it’s something to worry about.
Ben