Lake Tahoe in a Day

“Hey Andrew, I’m booking your return flight and I was wondering if you’d be okay with a later ONE so you can have a day to explore?”

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That’s my boss, who has clearly caught on to the way I like to schedule my gigs when I’m traveling to a new city. It was a late-September Sunday morning in Reno, Nevada, and I’d just finished up a performance with the Reno Symphony the night before. Thanks to the aforementioned red-eye flight, I still had a full day ahead of me for potential adventures before I’d have to make my way to the airport! Finally, after years of hearing about how beautiful it was, I was actually going to make it to Lake Tahoe. I only had about twelve hours, but if you’re flying solo like I was, you can actually pack a lot into twelve hours! Here’s how I managed to do Lake Tahoe in a day. If you’ve only got a short time to play with, you could do a whole lot worse than this.

CAR RENTAL IN RENO

It’s not one of the big name companies, but I always check EasyRentCars.com first when I’m booking a rental car. I do this for three reasons:

1) They’ve got really cheap prices

2) You can check a box to have them automatically rebook you if the price drops

3) It doesn’t take many rentals to reach their “Gold Level” perks, which is not the case with most rental car companies

They also are currently offering a deal for $60 worth of coupons new customers who download and book on their app, so if you’re looking to rent a car in the near future, click the link below and save some MONEY!

Get $60 in coupons when you sign up at EasyRentCars and download the app!

When I originally booked my car for Reno on a different site, it was $44. When I checked EasyRentCars.com I saw it for just over $30, so I canceled the other and booked there. THEN the price dropped to $27.40 and they automatically rebooked me. So in total, I ended up saving over $16 with EasyRentCars.com. That’s a big win in my book. I picked up my car and set off into the mountains towards Lake Tahoe.

THE LAKE TAHOE LOOP

Because I’m me, and I suffer from constant and pervasive FOMO (fear of missing out), I can’t just pick ONE place to go when I’m visiting a new area for a short period of time. I’d rather get the lay of the land and hit a lot of places quickly than do a deep dive into one particular attraction/hike/experience. That way I’ll know where I really want to go the next time I’m in the area. I totally recognize that other people prefer the other method, and that’s completely valid as well! This is just the way I like to travel. So in that vein, I decided I’d do a complete loop of Lake Tahoe with a plan to stop at a couple places I thought looked interesting, as well as giving myself permission to stop randomly if something else jumped out at me along the way!

Here’s my complete route, along with all the stops I made over the course of the day. I started in Reno, and drove counterclockwise around the lake:

CHECK OUT KINGS BEACH!

The day I visited was cloudy and cold, so the beach probably wasn’t at its best. But it was a great spot to stop and get a lay of the land while taking a second to appreciate just how BIG Lake Tahoe really is. And I imagine it could be a really fun spot to stop and soak up some sun on a warm summer day. There are all sorts of restaurants scattered along the road that runs parallel to the beach. I’d love to come back!

VISIT INSPIRATION POINT!

Here’s my thing about established viewpoints. Sometimes they’re great. Often times they’re so crowded with people that you can’t really appreciate the beauty in front of you through the overwhelming number of selfie sticks and uggs. So oftentimes I try and find my own little secluded viewpoints that are a bit off-grid. In other words, if you can find the viewpoint on Google Maps, it’s probably going to be too crowded for my taste.

You’ll know Inspiration Point when you get to it because there will be approximately 8 million cars parked in the parking lot and along the road. I kept driving to the end of where all the cars parked and pulled over, determined to find my own little bit of seclusion. And… it worked! Here are a couple shots I took from this beautiful slice of mountainous paradise:

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SEE THE SALMON RUN!

I have a weird love affair with salmon. I just think they’re super fascinating animals! They’re born in freshwater rivers, migrate to the sea, literally transform into salt-water fish, and then SMELL their way back to their breeding grounds to spawn and die! It’s so crazy. They can smell a SINGLE DROP of water from their spawning grounds in the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean! Mind. Blown.

But, tragically, the salmon here at Lake Tahoe aren’t the seafaring type. These are Kokanee salmon, which live in freshwater their entire lives and aren’t nearly as crazy as their oceanic cousins, but if you happen to be in the area in late September into October, you’ll get to see them swimming upstream! AND they’ll be BRIGHT red. It’s really cool to see.

To watch the salmon run, you just have to drive to the Taylor Creek Visitor Center and follow the Rainbow Trail! The signs are pretty clear.

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GO ON A HIKE!

During my research, I found a number of longer hikes that I’d love to check out someday, but given the short amount of time I was working with, I settled on the unfortunately named Skunk Harbor Trail. This short trail drops 500 feet in elevation over 2.6 miles from the road down to the lake, but don’t let the name fool you, this was a really gorgeous hike! Once again, I found some amazing solitude in the woods, despite all the tourists I’d passed all day on the road. I think I only saw three other people on the trail.

The Skunk Harbor trail is incredibly well maintained and wide, and while the return journey is entirely uphill, it’s definitely worth the effort to have your own tiny piece of beach! It even comes complete with the cutest little bench in history. Not a bad spot to sit and draw, write, meditate, contemplate life – whatever your personal happy place entails. The photo I took looks kinda sad and lonely, but if you visit with a friend or loved one, HOLY CUTENESS, FAM! You’re welcome.

If you want to find the perfect hike for you, I highly recommend downloading the AllTrails App, or at least check out their website. This is the site/app I always use when I’m trying to find new great hikes in a spot I’m unfamiliar with. It’s essentially crowdsourced hike information and reviews, along with photos, so you can pick the exact type of hike you’re looking for.

SUNSET AT SAND POINT!

My last stop of a very successful day was Sand Point, where I’d planned to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the cloud cover got really heavy about the time of sunset, so it wasn’t the spectacular alpenglow I was hoping for. But that said, it was still incredibly beautiful. As I stood on the dark granite rocks on the edge of the deepest lake in America while the cold wind slapped me in the face, I couldn’t help but feel deeply grateful. I absolutely LOVE getting to squeeze every last drop out of a day, and I certainly did that at Lake Tahoe.

All in all, I spent about $15 on gas and $28 on the car, for a total of $43. So not the cheapest day I’ve ever had, but hey – I got to see salmon run, got to go on a hike, got to watch the snow come in off the mountains and blanket the trees, got to have a really unforgettable day, and I finally, FINALLY got to see Lake Tahoe.

I can guarantee I’ll be back. But… maybe in Summer this time.

Love y’all

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