Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is one of the most spectacular places to boat in North America. It's a deep, cold, famously clear alpine lake straddling the California–Nevada line high in the Sierra Nevada. It's about 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with 72 miles of shoreline and a surface area of 191 square miles. At 1,645 feet at its deepest (about 1,000 feet on average), it's the second-deepest lake in the United States.

What boating here is like

At an average surface elevation of about 6,225 feet, Tahoe is the highest lake of its size in the country. That shapes everything about boating here. Engines run differently at altitude. The water is cold, roughly 65–70°F at the surface in late summer and 40–50°F in late winter. Afternoon winds can build a real chop across the open lake. Summer is the main season, when most of the lake's marinas, rental fleets and launch facilities are fully open. Boaters cruise to Emerald Bay and Fannette Island, run the scenic East Shore, sail the West Shore's afternoon breezes, and anchor off sandy beaches.

Protecting the lake

Tahoe's clarity is world-renowned and closely protected. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and partner agencies run one of the country's strictest boating-environment programs. Every motorized boat must pass an aquatic invasive species inspection before launching. Highly polluting carbureted two-stroke engines have been banned since 1999. A 600-foot no-wake zone rings the entire shoreline. The aim is to keep quagga and zebra mussels out and keep the water clean. 63 streams flow into the lake, and only one river, the Truckee, flows out.

Planning a trip

If you're trailering in, book your inspection ahead. Arrive "clean, drained and dry", and expect busy launch facilities on summer weekends. Use the Lake Tahoe Water Trail resources for paddling routes and the Tahoe Boating App for no-wake zones and services.