There are three bucket-list athletic challenges that involve circling Lake Tahoe. You can thru-hike the 170-mile-long Tahoe Rim Trail. You can ride the 72-mile road-bike loop around the lake. Or you can get wet and paddle your way the plus- or minus-70 miles around the lake. I’ve completed the hike and ride several times, but while I’ve paddled much of the lake, the continuous circumnavigation still eludes me. It’s on my bucket list, but before I tick it off my list, I can pass along some data to you on the challenges that are involved.
Paddling around Lake Tahoe is a challenge not only physically, because you might wish you had Popeye the Sailor arms by the time you get done, but because it takes at least four to six days for most people to make the paddle.
Paddling around Lake Tahoe is a challenge not only physically, because you might wish you had Popeye the Sailor arms by the time you get done, but because it takes at least four to six days for most people to make the paddle. You need both good paddling weather and a place to stay at night.
Watch a video about the Lake Tahoe Water Trail
Courtesy Lake Tahoe Water Trail
The good news is that laketahoewatertrail.org provides detailed information on how to plan a paddle around the lake. They have a great map showing places to launch your boat, where to camp or find other lodging and the fun stuff like restaurant options and great beaches to stop at.
The bad news is that a 35-mile clockwise stretch of the lake shore between Lake Forest on the North Shore around to Zephyr Cove on the East Shore is off limits to legal camping. The West Shore does have a number of places to camp close to the water: Tahoe City, Tahoe Park, Meeks Bay, D.L. Bliss State Park and Emerald Bay. But due to the summer popularity of these campgrounds, especially the campsites close to the beach where you will leave your boat, they get booked up months in advance, which means to line up suitable campsites in the summer from spot to spot would be a tough nut to crack. (Note: D.L. Bliss is currently open only to those with advance reservations.)
If you can’t figure out camping mid-summer, there are a few alternatives. You could stay at hotels along the route, which would be perfectly civilized, but might take away from the experience of sleeping under the stars. I’ve also heard of one group of friends that did the paddle with a sag sailboat for support. They would then sleep on the boat each evening.
Given the logistics of trying to do the water trail in the summer, your best bet might be mid-week in the early fall.
Know the weather
Success then becomes contingent on good weather, with the most important factor being wind speed and direction and what time of day the wind arrives. Plan on paddling early each day for a better shot at good weather.
It’s also important to be realistic. It’s better to cancel your trip than take on big waves that could swamp your boat and send you down to the deep like Tahoe legend Dick Barter. Barter, the namesake for Dicks Peak and Dicks Lake, was a hermit in Emerald Bay, who in 1873 perished while attempting to row home in a storm from an evening of drinking pleasure at the Tahoe Tavern Resort in Tahoe City.
Weather is notoriously fickle at Tahoe. A not unusual summer week is 80 degrees and a lake looking like glass for several days, then an abrupt change to 30 degrees colder and winds at 15 to 20 mph.
Tackle it in sections
While thru-paddling is a worthwhile dream, perhaps a first step is to day paddle portions of the route or take on a two-day trip stopping at a campground or hotel along the route.
D.L. Bliss to Emerald Bay (overnight) | My overnight experience was starting out at D.L. Bliss State Park and paddling to the Emerald Bay State Park boat camp in a canoe. This is truly a magical area of lake shore. But with reservations booked up months in advance, it’s a challenge getting a campsite. You can also paddle this as an out and back from D.L. Bliss; be sure and check the expected wind speeds and head out early.
Sunnyside to South Shore (overnight) | Start at William Kent Campground beach next to Sunnyside Lodge and paddle to Meeks Bay, spend the night at the campground and paddle on to exit at Baldwin Beach in South Lake Tahoe.
Sand Harbor to Tahoe City (overnight) | Start at the Sand Harbor Boat Launch on the Nevada side, paddle to Kings Beach, spend a night in a hotel, then paddle on to Tahoe City. Or an almost vice versa, start at the Lake Forest Boat launch, head clockwise to Kings Beach/Tahoe Vista, then the next day head to Sand Harbor.
Kings Beach to Incline Village | If you’re looking to try out a several-hours paddle on the lake, I’ve enjoyed paddling from Kings Beach to Incline Village, Nev., where you glide by giant granite boulders near the California/Nevada border.
Sand Harbor | Launch from the beautiful, although extremely busy, Sand Harbor and paddle in either direction.
Sunnyside to Tahoe City | Paddle from Tahoe Park on the West Shore to Tahoe City and check out the beginning of the Truckee River, although with the water low, that might be a challenge this year.
I still have my dream, that someday I will put on my miracle logistics cap and all the arrangements will fall into place, the weather gods will provide the perfect conditions for six days of paddling and I will finally make my way around the lake. | laketahoewatertrail.org
