Lose the crowds on the
hiking and mountain-
biking trails or disc-golf
course at North Tahoe
Regional Park (http://
northtahoeparks.com; 6600
Donner Rd, off National Ave; per
car $3; c), which also has
a snow-sledding hill.54 p203
The Drive » East of Kings
Beach, Hwy 28 barrels uphill
across the California–Nevada
border past the small-potatoes
casinos of Crystal Bay before
reaching Incline Village just a
few miles later.6 Crystal Bay &
Incline Village
Crossing into Nevada,
the neon starts to flash
and old-school gambling
palaces appear. You
can try your luck at the
gambling tables or catch
a live-music show at the
Crystal Bay Club Casino
(%775-833-6333; http://www.crystalbaycasino.com; 14 Hwy
28). Straddling the state
border, Cal-Neva Resort
(%800-233-5551; http://www.
calnevaresort.com; 2 Stateline
Rd; admission free, tour $10;
hcall for tour schedules)
evokes a colorful history
of ghosts, mobsters and
ex-owner Frank Sinatra on
guided tours of its ‘secret’
underground tunnels.
One of Lake Tahoe’s
ritziest communities,
Incline Village is a
gateway to wintertime
ski resorts. During
summer, you can tour the
eccentric Thunderbird
Lodge (%800-468-2463;
http://thunderbirdtahoe.org;
tour adult/child from $39/19;
htours usually Tue-Sat Jun-
Sep, reservations required), a
historical mansion only
accessible by bus, boat or
kayak. Or drive northeast
up Hwy 431 into the
Mt Rose Wilderness,
a gateway to miles
of unspoiled terrain,including easy wildflower
walks at Tahoe Meadows.The Drive » Beyond the
stop-and-go traffic of Incline
Village, Hwy 28 winds south,
staying high above Lake Tahoe’s
east shore, offering peekaboo
lake views and roadside pull-
offs, from where locals scramble
down the cliffs to hidden
beaches. It’s a slow-moving 13
miles south to Spooner Lake.7 Lake Tahoe
Nevada State Park
With pristine beaches
and miles of wilderness
trails for hikers,
mountain-bikers, skiers
and snowshoers, Lake
Tahoe Nevada State
Park (%775-831-0494;
http://parks.nv.gov; Hwy 28;
per car $7-12; c) is the
east shore’s big draw.
Summer crowds splash in
the turquoise waters of
Sand Harbor, a few miles
south of Incline Village.
The 13-mile Flume Trail
(%775-749-5349; http://www.
theflumetrail.com; trailhead
bike rental $45-65, shuttle $10-
15), a mountain-biker’s
holy grail, starts further
south at Spooner Lake,
where anglers fish along
the shore (no swimming- too many leeches!). It’s
just north of the Hwy 50
junction.
TAHOE RIM TRAIL
The 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail (http://tahoerimtrail.
org) treks the lofty ridges of the Lake Tahoe
Basin. Day hikers, equestrians and – in some
sections – mountain-bikers are rewarded by
high-altitude views of the lake and Sierra
Nevada peaks while tracing the footsteps of
early pioneers, Basque shepherds and Washoe
tribespeople.
CENTRAL.CALIFORNIA.18
(^) LAKE TAHOE LOOP