4 Best Sights in Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Antique and classic cars made by obscure and familiar companies fill this engaging facility. Celebrity vehicles include the Lana Turner Chrysler (one of only six made), an Elvis Presley Cadillac, and the Mercury coupe James Dean drove in the movie Rebel Without a Cause. Hard to miss are the experimental and still futuristic-looking 1938 Phantom Corsair and a gold-plated 1981 DeLorean.

A photogenic 3-mile cycling and walking path linking Incline Village and Sand Harbor State Park, this paved lakeside trail edges classic patches of turquoise water, giving way to cobalt blue, with the mountains as a backdrop. You can traverse portions of the trail by stopping at Highway 28 vista points, but parking is for only 20 minutes. Park at the Tunnel Creek Road pay lot for longer walks, less expensive than Sand Harbor's day-use fee.

Learn how Lake Tahoe was formed, why it’s so blue, and how its ecosystem is changing at Tahoe’s only science center. Hands-on exhibits include aquariums, a virtual ecology lab and research boat, a watershed map with the 63 streams that flow into the lake (and the only one that flows out, the Truckee River), tables that teach how to identify trees, and a theater projecting an intriguing 3D movie. Visitors ages eight and older will gain the most from the experience.

George Whittell, a San Francisco socialite who once owned 40,000 acres of property along the lake, began building this lodge in 1936, completing it in 1941. Arriving via bus or boat (reservations essential), you can tour the mansion and grounds, and though it's pricey to do so, you'll be rewarded with a rare glimpse into a time when only the very wealthy had spectacular lakeside homes.