Planning late June trip 3 families - Lk Tahoe best?
 

We're trying to plan a trip with 3 families (6 adults, 5 children ages 7 down to age 2) in Northern CA. Lake Tahoe seems to have the most options - esp. Tahoe Donner & Dollar Point -- but we are still open to ideas. Ideally, we'd like 5 BR house where we can cook and hang out comfortably and be able to walk or take a shuttle to some small child-friendly amenities - wading pool would be best, playground great, etc. Seems like Northstar & Squaw Valley have lots of amenities, but not many affordable large houses. Any recommendations? Recommendations for places to go besides Tahoe?

Virginia City is a fun tourist trap and not that far from Tahoe. Carson City is the capitol of Nevada and has some interesting things to do and see.

If you want a really interesting day trip then go down Hwy 395 to Bodie Historical State Park. It's one of the best preserved ghost towns I've ever been to. Warning, this is about a 200 mile round trip...but do able. We've done it from S. Lake Tahoe in a day.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509

Utahtea

Don't know what's affordable for you but we use this company when renting our cabin every year: www.enjoytahoe.com. If you log onto their search you can find something to fit the bill : http://www.enjoytahoe.com/Rentals/

If you select the "all category they can find you anything in the north, west or ski areas of Tahoe. They really don't rent in south shore. A great south shore area to rent in for your size group would be Tahoe Keys. They have good amenities for families, like an association pool etc. Here's a great resource: http://www.tahoeaccommodations.com/index.htm

You can also try vrbo.com to rent directly from owners.

Hi susansea,

What is your price range? Did you check vrbo.com or other internet rental places?

Also, what time of year will you be going?

Donner lake is a good place to go for a day trip. it`s a small lake where the Donner party camped and there are sites where cabins, etc were located. Also a museum. It`s a very pretty lake. Going to Truckee is good too. Also lots of cute little shops, places to eat. I also enjoy going to Nevada City. it`s a cute little town with a lot of B&B`s and lots of cute shops and restaurants. Don`t know about places to stay, as I live in Reno.

We've stayed at Lakeland Village with a large group and it worked out well - rented a few condos right on the lake. Each condo was fully stocked with cookware and utensils. There is a pool, I believe, and the beach there is pretty nice.

Thanks for the responses so far. To answer some questions - we're going in mid/late June & by affordable I mean ideally less than $400 per night for a house share between the 3 families, though we might be able to afford a bit more. I've tried several internet rental sources, incl. vrbo, rentalexpress,a1vacations, greatrentals. I have a couple of possibilities, but don't know whether the resorts themselves are good choices. Does anyone know about Tahoe Donner - is it a good place to be? If we could find another more affordable rental home somewhere besides Tahoe (say, in Gold Country, for example) that might still have some things for small children to do, we could also decide to go somewhere other than Tahoe. We just want to be in reasonable driving distance from SF. Thanks & sorry for long winded questions!

In spite of its name, Tahoe Donner is not next to either lake. It is a condo-resort development above Truckee which is now part of the town of Truckee. I can't tell you what is available in the summer because I only rent ski season accommodations. But it is a nice area which probably has a golf course; it's cross-country ski area is based in the summer riding stables, assuming that they still are stables; it had a swimming pool available; and I believe that it has it's own access to Donner Lake (3 miles down the road). But I do not know what the rights of renters are to the amenities.

If you are looking for a more affordable area than the Tahoe/Truckee area, consider Graeagle which is about an hour north of there. Lot's of great stuff to do and a very agreeable climate.

Here's one sample house rental that I found with a google search:

http://www.californiavacation.com/listings/18004.html

You might check out Granlibakken. It is on the West Short of Lake Tahoe, south of Tahoe City. We did a family reunion here and they had a range of accomodations. www.granlibakken.com

It is not right on the lake, but close enough. Plus a pool and tennis courts. Plus, when we stayed, breakfast (hot) is included with price. We wee there in June with 50 plus people.