My adult daughter is going out to Truckee to visit friends - they had reservations inside Yosemite ,but as of today- the Park is closed - due to fires-- What suggestions do you have for sightseeing within a 300 mile area? They have a car and several days to sightsee-- Please help--she leaves tomorrow!! Thank you in advance--

If her friends are in Truckee -- then they can just stay there. Tahoe, Reno, Virginia City, Plumas County, etc are all easy day trips.

If they want to stay right at Tahoe - there are masses of accommodations - but being very late to book, I'd use a site like http://www.tahoechamber.com/ or maybe http://www.virtualtahoe.com/

There is a fire near Midpines outside the west side of the park. 140 remains open as does the park but apparently power is out in the valley tho most stores & hotels in the valley are being run on generator power. That's a shame. Here's some things to do in Tahoe:

You can also rent bikes and ride along the bike path from Tahoe City southward all the way to just south of Sugar Pine or north along the Truckee River.

River rafting out of Tahoe City. Take an ice chest full of your favorite beverage and food supplies. Rafting is completely weather dependent.
http://www.truckeeriverraft.com/taho...017/direct?c=1

Nice beach in Tahoe City is Commons Beach:
http://www.tahoeaccommodations.com/t...tahoe-city.htm

Squaw Valley

You can take the tram up to High Camp for a great day of hiking around or sitting at the pool and giant Jacuzzi or ice skating. Lots to do there.

http://www.squaw.com/http://www.taho...tahoe-city.htm

On the West side on 89:

Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay with short side hikes to Eagle Falls or Cascade Lake & Falls

Emerald Bay - Vikingsholm Trail starts at the parking area on the north side of Emerald Bay, on Highway 89. It's a wide, well-maintained trail, but fairly steep, about 2½ miles round trip. At the bottom of the trail is a picnic area, as well as world-famous Vikingsholm, a replica of a Scandinavian castle. The island in Emerald bay had a tea room on it and the remnants are still there only in poor shape due to vandals.

http://www.vikingsholm.com/


Eagle Falls / Eagle Lake Trail starts at Eagle Falls Picnic Area, highway 89 across from Emerald Bay. Permits are required on this hike and a self-registration station is at the trailhead. The hike is only about 2 miles round trip to Eagle Lake (only about 1/3 mile to the falls); the terrain varies from steep to flat and crosses beautiful Eagle Falls on a steel footbridge.

Cascade Lake & Falls – Turn into the Bayview Campground across fro Emerald Bay Inspiration Point, drive to the end and park at the trailhead. Take the trail that veers left. Spectacular views of the 200 foot high falls and Cascade Lake can be seen from this short trail.

You can also take a trail that leads north around Emerald Bay and comes out at DL Bliss. Stunning views form this trail, stuff you can’t see from the road.

Also on 89 on the west side you can find any or all of the following:

DL Bliss – nice beach but very hard to get into so if you go get really early start.

Meeks Bay – great beach, there is a grill shack right on the beach. Paddle boats and tricycles available for rent. Beautiful views of the lake.

Sugar Pine Point – Beautiful grounds and daily tours of the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=510


Chambers Landing – It has 2 beach sections. One part is roped off as private and the other part is open to the public. Not really great sand, and the shore is rocky. The best part is the dock with the historic Chambers Bar at the end. This place will be hopping on weekends. Many people boat in and the dock is like a party at happy hour, reduced Chambers Punch prices.

South Lake Tahoe:

You can shop and eat at the village area, take a scenic ride on the Heavenly gondola or visit casinos.

Zephyr Cove is good for lake cruises and water craft rentals or walk on the beach.

Other great beaches in SLT are Pope, Camp Richardson and Baldwin. All of these are past the Y which is really now a 4 way light but habits are hard to break!

You should visit the Tallac site.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/tallac/

Also if you are interested in fish this is pretty interesting:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recrea...streampc.shtml


Hikes to take near South Lake Tahoe are the Moraine Trail which is a pretty easy hike of 1 mile (one-way) Walk a relatively flat trail through the forest and along the shore of picturesque Fallen Leaf Lake. Take Highway 89 to Fallen Leaf Road. Continue approximately 2/3 of a mile to Fallen Leaf Campground. Drive through the campground and park just before campsite #75 on the right Look for the trailhead sign near the parking area.

Another hike is Angora Lakes which is an easy hike and hikers are rewarded with several lakes. You can rent row boats or just swim and lay around on the sandy beach. It’s only ½ mile and the scenery when you get there is great. The lake is surrounded by cliffs and giant rocks. Take Highway 89 to Fallen Leaf Lake Road and turn left. Turn left at the first paved road. Continue to Forest Service Road 12N14 and turn right. Watch for bicyclists along this road. Continue past Angora Lookout to the road's end at the parking lot. The little store there is famous for its lemonade.

North Tahoe:

The beach at the Hyatt is very nice. So is the dock. Sometimes they serve drinks on the dock. They also have an activity desk on the beach so you can rent stuff or schedule a sail etc. This side of the lake gets really rough after about 2:30 so water sports or sails should be scheduled early or late after the lake settles down.

Sand Harbor just outside Incline is a great Beach.

According to the NPS, the park is open and there are no restrictions on any of the roads.

Check it out:

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

The park is open but there is currently no power. That might go on for days. Hard to feed the crowds.

"Power in the Yosemite Valley communities of El Portal and Yosemite Village was deliberately cut off for the safety of firefighters, officials said, because thick smoke can act as an electrical conduit and could carry harmful electricity to firefighters working close to active power lines."

Yes - the park is open. So? I personally would stay the heck away - the emergency workers have enough on their plates w/o tourists clogging up the roads . . . . .

Thank you for all your responses-- i do think they will want to travel in another direction-- perhaps up toward Pt. Reyes-- or the wine country-- i printed all the ideas for around Truckee

Wine country is exactly what I was going to suggest. It's such a great "girls bonding" experience to have. If the ladies head towards South Lake Tahoe first and then head west towards Placerville, CA there are several cute shops and cafes to occupy an afternoon. Literally up a hill and around the corner from Placerville is one of my favorite Sierra Foothills wineries called Boeger. They offer free-tasting (as do most of the other area wineries). There are several others smattered throughout that area as well, and you can usually map out a nice little route if you search El Dorado wine country or Amador wine country online.

Good luck!

palmies is correct. The wineries of El Dorado and Amador Counties are great. I like going to these wineries so much more. It reminds me of what the Napa Valley wineries were about 30 years ago. Check out www.eldoradowines.org and www.amadorwine.com

DH said the smoke was pretty bad yesterday in the Tahoe area and the eastern Sierra Nevadas.