Lake Tahoe · With kids
WITH KIDS
Warm-ish shallows, a gondola with a view and a river float that suits short attention spans.
Sand Harbor State Park
Shallow, boulder-strewn and the clearest water on the lake, with kayak rentals and a short interpretive boardwalk. Parking fills before nine on summer mornings.
Heavenly Gondola
Twelve minutes from central South Lake Tahoe to an observation deck over the whole basin, with tubing and a ropes course at Adventure Peak above it.
Truckee River float
A five-mile drift from Tahoe City to the River Ranch on rented rafts, no rapids and a shuttle back. Runs from about June until the flow drops in late summer.
Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay
A Scandinavian-style mansion at the water's edge, reached by a steep mile down from the highway. Tours in summer; the walk back up is the hard part.
Altitude, sun and cold water
The lake sits at 6,225 feet — sunburn comes fast and sleep comes slowly the first night. Water rarely exceeds the mid-sixties Fahrenheit, even in August.