2 Best Sights in Tahoma, Lake Tahoe

Summer visitors love to hike, swim, fish, and tour the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion at this park named for a state politician who championed conservation, but it's also popular in winter, when a small campground remains open. Nearly 12 miles of cross-country ski and snowshoe trails allow beginners and experienced enthusiasts alike to whoosh through pine forests and glide past the lake. Rangers lead full-moon snowshoe tours from January to March. With 2,000 densely forested acres and nearly 2 miles of shore frontage, this is Lake Tahoe's largest state park.

A 1903 stone-and-shingle summer residence furnished in period style, the mansion, originally called Pine Lodge, was erected by businessman I.W. Hellman of San Francisco and inherited by his daughter, Florence Hellman Ehrman. The structure, designed by Wayne Danforth Bliss (the son of nearby D.L. Bliss State Park's namesake), had electric lights and full indoor plumbing, the height of modernity for its day. Docents lead tours in summer. The estate and grounds are open year-round.