Summer/Fall 2023, Nine State Tour, 8.20.23 - 9.25.23, Part 9 of 9: The Final Chapter - Lake Tahoe
As we left Great Basin National Park, the feeling of finality hovered in the air. Our visit in Yellowstone seemed so long ago and the amount of things we had seen and done since then could fill a book (it did!). We were in a relaxing mood.
Driving back to Ely, Nevada, we then turned west on US 50. We were now on what is known as “ The Loneliest Road In America”. This highway stretches across the central part of the state of Nevada almost from border to border. It takes about six hours to drive between Ely and Fallon. We had never been on this part of US 50 before. With a name like that, I envisioned a highway with no curves, no towns, no gas stations, surrounded by completely flat featureless rangeland for hundreds of miles. It wasn’t like that at all. We went over at least five passes, through various curves and there were always mountains visible both near and far. Nevada has its share of huge flat basins but it has a stark beauty that we really like a lot. The state is full of many hidden treasures. We have driven several long highways through the state. US 93 runs along the eastern edge of the state from below Twin Falls, Idaho to Mesquite in the southeastern corner of Nevada. US 50 east and down US 21 between Ely and Panguitch, Utah is another. And now US 50 west from Ely to Fallon. There is almost no traffic on these roads and I will take a two lane blacktop through the middle of nowhere any day over an interstate freeway where I have to jockey with huge semi tractor trailers all day long.
Bridgit had never seen Lake Tahoe before. Connecting with I-80 we passed through Reno, whose nickname is “the biggest little city on the world” and then dropped down into the Tahoe basin. Lake Tahoe is huge. Our campground was on the western side in California near Tahoe City. It was called William Kent Campground and we loved this campground. It is situated in the forest with ample space between sites and had a nice flat pull-in for the Navibahn. Though we couldn’t see it from our site, the lake was right across the road from the campground. We had no hookups but we would only be there for three nights so we were self sufficient.
In the morning we drove the Jeep into Tahoe City and had breakfast at Rosie’s Cafe. By this point in the trip we were pretty much done with any major hiking and mainly just wanted to see what we could see just driving around. I had a couple of beaches I did want to check out so we decided with the whole day ahead of us to just drive around the entire lake for an overview. It is a seventy-two mile drive to go around the lake. The California/Nevada border runs right down the middle so from Tahoe City we would drive into Nevada and then re-enter California down on the south end of the lake. We drove through King’s Beach and Incline Village. Just past Sand Harbor we pulled over at an unsigned pullout on the northeastern side of the lake. Here we followed a short steep trail down to a spot called Bonsai Rock. This part of the lake has various beaches that are known for the extremely clear water with huge rounded boulders sticking up out of the water all over the place. The water is so amazingly clear that there are places that you can see as far as seventy feet under the surface! Next to Crater Lake in Oregon, Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the country at 1,645’.
When we got down to the water’s edge at Bonsai Rock there were quite a few kayakers and paddleboarders there. They had all come down from Sand Harbor where you can rent them, only we found out that this day was some special day in Nevada and the rental fees were waived. That explained the numbers we saw out there.
Moving further down the lake, we stopped at another unsigned pullout. Here we followed another steep trail a little over a half mile to Nude Beach. This clothing optional beach is a very beautiful cove filled with rounded boulders and lovely greenish water. There were around twenty-five people there when we arrived. The only nudist was some old geezer in a cowboy hat trying to tan ol’ Percy on a big boulder. We waded in the water and felt that it was definitely swimmable but we weren’t prepared to swim there and it was starting to get more crowded so we left.
Lake Tahoe near Bonsai Rock
Looking up towards Sand Harbor from Bonsai Rock
Clear water and rocks by Bonsai Rock
Looking down on Nude Beach from the trail
You know what they say! When in Rome…
I think most of the nicest rocky beaches are in the northeastern part of the lake, but they are also pretty popular. Continuing down the lake, we eventually came to South Lake Tahoe. This is the busiest hub of activity on the lake so we parked and walked around to check out the shops and people watch. There we found the ultimate shop for Bridgit called Champagne and Chocolate. Of course we had to sample their wares so we sat outside on the patio in the warm September sun and drank passion fruit mimosas and ate dark chocolate truffles. Hiking and jeeping are all well and good, but sometimes just kicking back is a real treat!
Oh yeah!
Leaving South Lake Tahoe we crossed back into California and headed up the western side of the lake. Emerald Bay is a very beautiful large bay on the lake, but as we approached there were cars stretched out on both sides of the highway for a mile in each direction. It was just a sea of people around there! We found one spot past the overlook to pull over for a quick photo of the bay but then we just wanted to just be away from there. It was way too crowded. We were happy to get back to our quiet campground and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.
Emerald Bay
The following day our dear friends Harry and Annie, who live an hour from Tahoe, came up and spent the afternoon with us at our campsite. We barbecued chicken on our Weber grill and had a nice dinner together before they headed back home.
From Tahoe we planned to drive to Roseburg, Oregon and stay overnight before getting back home but it was only around two-thirty when we got to Roseburg and we had a case of “horse to barn” syndrome. Since we felt fine we pushed on, making it a seventeen hour drive and arriving home around eleven-thirty that night.
Considering how long we were gone and how far we traveled, the trip was incredibly smooth. We had great weather almost every single day. Other than some fridge issues which always seems to be a problem, the Navibahn performed like a champ the entire time. We met all sorts of folks from all over the country. All in all, the Nine State Tour was a huge success and we couldn’t have been more pleased with how it all turned out.
I really hope you have enjoyed coming along on this journey with us through this really long trip report! Time to take a few months off and then prepare for the Texas Hill Country 2024 Solar Eclipse Rally!