For Year Round Fun & The Most Skiing Options - Visit Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals

Lake Tahoe is located in Sierra Nevada along the border where the states of California and Nevada meet, and its name is derived from the native Washo word 'daaw' meaning lake.

The beautiful blue lake of Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America and is adorned by spectacular beaches like the Secret Beach and Sand Harbor, and picturesque wilderness areas such as the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park and Emerald Bay State Park which are home to serene creeks, small rivers and charming waterfalls, providing tons of summer entertainment activities such as fishing, boating, sailing, paddling, jet skiing, parasailing, helicopter tours, scenic drives, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping and golfing. The enchanting winters of Lake Tahoe are welcomed by the sparkling views of snowcapped mountain peaks and sweeping pine groves, while winter lovers flock to the many ski resorts of the region such as Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar, Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley which offer plenty of fun activities including skiing, sledding, snowboarding, snow tubing, snowshoeing, ice skating, snowmobiling and gondola rides.

Lake Tahoe showcases many cultural and historic venues which include Watson Cabin Living Museum and Gatekeeper's Cabin Museum, and historical homes such as Vikingsholm, Tallac Historic Site, Thunderbird Lodge and Ehrman Mansion, family fun vistas like Squaw Valley Paintball and KidZone Museum, other attractions like Rocking Stone Tower and Cave Rock Tunnel, and year round events like autumn food and wine festival, Wanderlust Festival and MontBleu Holiday Extravaganza.

The many art galleries, farmer's markets, specialty shops and fashion boutiques of Lake Tahoe present its visitors an exciting shopping experience, while its wide array of lakefront restaurants, romantic cafes, seafood diners and classy bistros serve mouthwatering delights of varying cuisines. Nights of Lake Tahoe are thrilling in its many dance bars, comedy clubs, casinos, dinner cruises and live performance theaters, and its extensive spectrum of luxury condos, tranquil cabins, exotic beach houses, deluxe lodges and village inns provide exclusive budget friendly vacation rental options to meet every taste.

The picturesque canvas of Lake Tahoe is studded by its unending scenic charms, abundant cultural scenes and myriad family entertainment venues all year round. Lake Tahoe is sure to please both snow and water sport lovers alike.

Highly recommended ski areas

A Play-It-Forward (PIF) Submission

I've skied many places in Colorado, New England and at Jackson Hole, but Lake Tahoe is still one of my favorites. In my younger days, I had skied Heavenly Valley on two prior trips to Lake Tahoe. It's hard to have a ski trip that isn't fun and exhilarating, so we thoroughly enjoyed Heavenly. The terrain is varied and the views from the peak are spectacular. You overlook the deep blue of Lake Tahoe in one direction and the arid brown of Nevada in another direction. The contrasts are quite dramatic and interesting.

Lots of snow - lots of fun at Sugar Bowl

With the high elevations and often challenging terrain for an "advanced intermediate" like myself, the prospect of skiing Lake Tahoe some 20 years later in my late fifties was somewhat daunting. However, the opportunity to ski with my grown children and my brother and his family made the decision an easy one. Instead of staying at South Lake Tahoe, we found a very nice, owner vacation rental near Truckee (north of the lake). The cabin was only 10 minutes from Sugar Bowl ski area - a very nice, family oriented ski area. We found plenty of terrain for cruising and that suited my family's ski and snowboard level quite well. If you are looking for a ski area near Lake Tahoe that is little less known, but gets TONS of snow, you should look into Sugar Bowl. The snow around our cabin rental and along the streets was easily 8 feet thick!

Northstar-at-Tahoe - Upscale skiing, dining and partying

For a more resort like ski setting, we decided to ski one day at one of the more popular North Lake Tahoe ski areas. We had considered Squaw Valley, but opted instead for another Truckee ski destination - Northstar-at-Tahoe. What a fantastic ski resort! I personally enjoyed the ambiance much more than Heavenly Valley. There's even a Ritz Carlton on the slope with its own gondola for access. Even though we did not stay at Northstar, you could tell that the accommodations were quite luxurious and varied in types from elegant homes to condos. The lift lines were much shorter than I had expected so the wait times were not an issue.

We skied the front portion of the mountain pretty extensively and there were trails to suit everyone's preferences. After a delicious lunch on the peak of the mountain, we felt bold enough to go for some Black Diamond trails on the back side. I used to make my way down Expert Level Trails, but was never as good as many of the people on them. So having not skied one in quite some years and having not done any conditioning before our trip, I was expecting the worst. To my surprise, there was no need to call the Ski Patrol! We found several single Black Diamond trails that were incredible. They were very wide, well groomed, mogul free and steep, but not paralyzingly so. The legs got a good workout, but myself and the family all did exceptionally well and all felt these were the best trails we'd skied all week.

After our "conquering" the expert trails, we returned to the restaurant and its bar (sculpted entirely from snow) for a celebratory cocktail. A final run down to the Village at Northstar at the base for some relaxation, food, drink, conversation and people watching made the day complete. Even my 2 year-old grand-daughter had fun on the "bungee" sling for kids.

There are so many ski areas and activities in the North Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe areas that it may be difficult to decide where to spend your vacation. The vertical drop at Sugar Bowl is not as high as Northstar, but during our visit it had a much deeper base and the trails are excellent either for cruising or for a challenge. From my somewhat limited experience, you cannot go wrong with a trip to either Northstar or Sugar Bowl.