If your escape yearning includes mountains and lakes, skiing and golf, winter sports and summer hiking, Lake Tahoe is perfect. Name your favorite season and outdoor sport, and you most likely will find it at Lake Tahoe. World class ski resorts attract the winter sport lovers, while the same mountains and lake offers phenomenal hiking and swimming in the summer. There are over 15 ski resorts there, including the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
Lake Tahoe touches both California and Nevada and includes six counties with more than a dozen communities. Lake Tahoe is the center of the area. The eighth deepest lake in the world, (1,645 feet near Crystal Bay), Lake Tahoe is known for its remarkable clarity.
Selecting which part of the Lake for your second home depends a lot on your lifestyle and what you are looking for. The Nevada Side, both North and South, offer active night life, with gaming casinos the heart of the action. There are also major resort developments in the California South Side. The North West area in California is the heart of primo skiing, with Squaw Valley as the gem.
You can choose rustic cottages in the woods, to resort condos on the slopes for your vacation home. Whichever area you choose, you’re never too far from what you might want for culture and action. Reno, Nevada is about an hour and a half drive, where casinos and luxury hotels are available. Other towns offer Shakespeare and music in the summer. Some parts of the Lake, such as Incline Village/ Crystal Bay in Nevada, are self-contained developments. At an elevation of 6,225 ft above sea level, with mountain peaks up to 10,067 feet, you are in breathtaking country no matter where you place your second home.
Common towns on the North for homes include Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay, Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach and Truckee in California. And in Northern Nevada, Incline Village, Reno and Carson City.
If you choose the south side of the lake, you have great options in South Lake Tahoe, California, and Stateline, Round Hill and Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
An accessible drive to San Francisco and an international airport in Reno make it possible to be a weekend guest. However most people love to stay longer, making the steady population of 65,000 in the basin swell in summer and winter.
For more information on second homes in the Lake Tahoe area, explore these Escapetowns:
Truckee, California
Lake Tahoe (North Shore), California
Lake Tahoe (South Shore), California
Incline Village, Nevada
South Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Wherever you choose to have your second home, you will surely love this best western vacation spot.