When to Go

When to Go

A sapphire blue lake shimmering deep in the center of an ice-white wonderland -- that's Tahoe in winter. But those blankets of snow mean lots of storms that often close roads and force chain requirements on the interstate. In summer the roads are open, but the lake and lodgings are clogged with visitors seeking respite from valley heat. If you don't ski, the best times to visit are early fall and late spring. The crowds thin, prices dip, and you can count on Tahoe being beautiful year-round.

Most Lake Tahoe accommodations, restaurants, and even a handful of parks are open year-round, but many visitor centers, mansions, state parks, and beaches are closed from November through May. During those months, multitudes of skiers and other winter-sports enthusiasts are attracted to Tahoe's downhill resorts and cross-country centers, North America's largest concentration of skiing facilities. Ski resorts try to open by Thanksgiving, if only with machine-made snow, and can operate through May or later. During the ski season, Tahoe's population swells on the weekends. If you're able to come midweek, you'll have the resorts and neighboring towns almost to yourself.

Unless you want to ski, you'll find that Tahoe is most fun in summer, when it's cooler here than in the scorched Sierra Nevada foothills, the clean mountain air is bracingly crisp, and the surface temperature of Lake Tahoe is an invigorating 65°F to 70°F (compared with 40°F to 50°F in winter).

This is also the time, however, when it may seem as if every tourist at the lake -- 100,000 on peak weekends -- is in a car on the main road circling the 72-mi shoreline (especially on Highway 89, just south of Tahoe City; on Highway 28, east of Tahoe City; and on U.S. 50 in South Lake). The crowds increase as the day wears on, so the best strategy for avoiding the crush is to do as much as you can early in the day.

The parking lots of the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center, Vikingsholm, and Emerald Bay State Park can be jammed at any time, and the lake's beaches can be packed. September and October, when the throngs have dispersed but the weather is still pleasant, are among the most satisfying -- and cheapest -- months to visit Lake Tahoe. Christmas week and July 4 are the busiest times, and prices go through the roof; plan accordingly.