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Lake Tahoe, The Lake, is the jewel of the Sierra Nevada's. At 6,226 feet above sea level Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. It is 12 miles wide, and 22 miles long. The Lake has a surface area of 191.6 square miles. The average depth of The Lake is 989 feet, while its deepest point is 1,645 feet. This is the third deepest lake in North America. Lake Tahoe contains about 40 trillion gallons of water. To put that number in perspective, that amount of water would cover the state of California in 14 inches of water.

LAKE TAHOE, CA

Dave
2004-02-21 14:15:23

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lakeside community just north of Homewood. Almost directly across from Chambers Landing is a road that heads west for a short distance. At the start of this road will be a sign that directs to McKinney OHV access. McKinney OHV is a 4 wheel drive road that winds for many miles back into the hills west of Lake Tahoe. In the last 2 years the first part of the OHV road has been paved and ends at a small parking lot. I definitely do not recommend driving a normal car on this road. We have taken our car on this road up to Miller Lakes which is about 5 miles from the end of the paved part of the road. We had to drive extremely slowly and watch for large sharp rocks in the road, drive over small snow patches, fjord small creeks, and drive over all of the above going up steep hills. This road rates in the top 3 "worst roads" ever driven on with a non 4 wheel drive vehicle.

This OHV road, however, provides a nice hike or bike ride. July is probably the most crowded month. I was hiking this road in July one year and must have been passed by hundreds of jeeps all with either US flags or Confederate flags waving from the back of their jeeps.

For a relaxing day hike I would recommend hiking just to Miller Lakes. These are a series of 3 to 4 lakes situated on a saddle back in between the mountains. There are fish in the larger of these lakes, although from what I have heard they are quite bony.

If you feel quite adventurous and enjoy hiking or biking long off road distances you could hike all the way to Rubicon Springs. Rubicon Springs is located between 10 to 13 miles from where the pavement ends. If you think the road is bad up to Miller Lakes, continue past the lakes to Rubicon Springs. If you know where to look you can spot old jeeps and cars that people abandoned and threw over the side of the road. Only the hardcore off road jeeps attempt this portion of the road. Rocks as large as desks and cars are commonplace ...