The past few weeks I’ve shared the other parts of our trip to California in early March – San Francisco, Muir Woods and Napa Valley. Today I wanted to share where we spent the majority of our week – Lake Tahoe! We had heard great things and everyone who has been there talks about how gorgeous the lake is. We decided we would spend 4 days there and drove up straight from Napa.
When you drive to Lake Tahoe in the winter you can deal with some serious snow and bad road conditions over Donner Pass on I-80. We had been monitoring the weather and it snowed 4 feet the days before we were going up! Luckily everything had been cleared and the roads were totally fine – their snow removal process is amazing (and that’s coming from a Minnesota girl = I’ve seen a lot of snow!).
The drive was beautiful because of the huge drifts on either side of the road. They were literally 12 feet and taller than the cars. I’ve never seen so much snow! We had basically planned outdoor activities because we love to be active so I’ll share what we did and where we went below.
What We Did
Cross-Country Skiing
- We really love to cross-country ski and were happy to find so many groomed trails. We skiied up to Paige Meadows from our resort and the climb was worth it! Plus it wasn’t too steep so it was a nice ski down – if you’ve ever nordic skiied you know you can’t really stop, so steep declines are super difficult.
- There were a ton of other trails that we didn’t get a chance to get to – like this and this.
Snowshoeing
- We decided to try snowshoeing and it is SO HARD. We realized after we saw the height of the snowdrifts that walking anywhere would be dangerous – you could really fall through and get stuck. So we rented some snowshoes and headed down towards Emerald Bay.
- We hiked up to Eagle Lake in the Desolation Wilderness – ok, my husband made it all the way there and I didn’t. It was so hard and we were basically on the side of a hill walking single file in snowshoes, which is super difficult! I got super tired so I waited while he checked out the lake – which was frozen so we decided just to turn back. But the views back of Tahoe were amazing while we were walking!
Downhill Skiing
- We thought about skiing at Homewood but it was so warm that all the snow was slushy. I’m not a super good skiier so I didn’t want to ski in bad conditions! If it had been a bit cooler (aka not 50 during the day!) we probably would have gone.
- There are so many places around the lake to ski – it’s definitely why most people go in the winter! Homewood is smaller and on the west side of the lake, but you can do Squaw or Alpine if you want a massive area. Heavenly is on the South side which can be inaccessible from the North due to avalanches in the winter.
Where We Ate
Tahoe City
- We had dinner at Tahoe Brewing which was easy to find and good! Definitely a ski bum place. Not super large so I bet there are long waits on weekends or in the summer! It was right across from the Tahoe City beach.
Tahoma
- We were craving pizza one night and West Shore Pizza turned out to be the only option – but luckily it was delicious! I highly recommend this and would definitely go back! It’s unassuming from the outside and eclectic on the inside. They had tons of pizza options and a lot of other food items so there’s something for everyone. We were sad we couldn’t finish our pizza!
Incline Village
- If you want a nice dinner around North Lake Tahoe you have to head to the Lone Eagle Grille. Driving there was amazing – we drove by the most gorgeous houses I’ve ever seen (cabins would be a lie, they were massive!) and the restaurant is right on the lake. Our steaks were amazing and we sat out by a fire after dinner was done. Highly recommend if you want to have one super nice dinner!
Where We Stayed
After a bit of a mouse incident at our Airbnb (luckily the owner was totally understanding and refunded us!) we headed to a resort we randomly found online – Granlibakken. It’s important to note that we went there late at night and hadn’t done any research – we just found the closest place to us and called! They had an open room so we sped there and figured we would re-evaluate in the morning. Well we ended up loving it so we stayed! A huge buffet was included for breakfast and the resort had a ton of amenities that our Airbnb obviously didn’t – trails, rentals, hot tubs, restaurant, etc! We laughed all week at how lucky it was that we ended up there. The staff was friendly and it was a great location too. It would be perfect for a family vacation in both winter and summer!
I can see why Tahoe is so popular – it is really a winter or summer playground! Winter traveling is obviously more weather-dependent but you just have to be prepared for the temps and the conditions. I would definitely go back and it’s easy to get to from Reno. I’ve heard South Lake Tahoe is basically a mini Vegas so I might stick to the North side 😉 Overall we had a great time in Tahoe and loved the natural beauty and outdoor options! I would definitely go back!
