South Lake Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe’s population is approximately 34,000 year round. Snowfall averages 125 inches at lake level and the upper elevations get as much as 500 inches per year. What’s wonderful about our winters, is Tahoe receives approximately 274 days of sunshine per year.  South Lake Tahoe is the most affordable side of the lake with a number of diverse neighborhoods to choose from.  From high end Lake Front properties to lovely Chalets built in the early 1900’s.  There are plenty of choice properties for all budgets.  

The South Shore offers both summer and winter activities.    Water skiing, boating,  hiking, biking, golfing, fishing, camping and rock climbing.  In the winter you’ll find world class skiing and snowboarding, trails for snow mobiling, awesome snowshoeing and ice skating.  As for the nightlife there’s plenty of gaming, fine dining at great restaurants and movie theaters. 

Lake Tahoe is the North American Continent’s largest Alpine lake and is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide, and covers a surface area of 191.6 square miles, and has 72 miles of shoreline.  Geologically, Lake Tahoe is a “young lake” having been formed 10,000 to 11,000 years ago.  Glaciers carved out what is now Fallen Leaf Lake, Emerald Bay and Cascade Lake.  63 Streams feed into Lake Tahoe but only one, the Truckee River at Fanny Bridge, feed out into Reno’s Pyrmid Lake.

More fun facts…

• Lake Tahoe is located 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, CA. and 58 miles southwest of Reno, NV. in the Sierra Mountain Range.
• Lake Tahoe is 2/3 in California and 1/3 in the State of Nevada.
• The Lake’s surface is 6,226.95 feet above sea level and the natural rim is 6,223 feet above sea level, making it the highest Lake of its size in the United States.
• Mt. Tallac at 9,735 feet is the highest peak rising from the shoreline. The highest point in the Tahoe Basin is Freel Peak at 10,881 feet.
• Lake Tahoe is the third deepest lake in North America and the tenth deepest in the world. (Lake Baikal, in Russia, is the deepest at over 4,600 feet.) Tahoe’s deepest point is 1,645 feet near Crystal Bay. The average depth of Lake Tahoe is 989 feet.
• The estimated 39.75 trillion gallons of water contained in the lake is 99.9 percent pure, with visibility to 75 feet below the surface.
• If Lake Tahoe was completely drained, it would cover a flat area the size of California to a depth of 14 inches, but would take over 700 years to refill.
• Lake Tahoe loses much of its water to evaporation. If the water that evaporates from the Lake every 24 hours could be recovered, it would supply the daily requirements of a city the size of Los Angeles.
• Although the summer’s heat can warm the upper 12 feet to a comfortable 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Lake Tahoe never freezes over in the winter; this is due to the constant 39 degrees Fahrenheit maintained at depths below 700 feet, largely because of the constant movement and volume of water.
• Weather in the Sierras can be unpredictable — snow, for example, has fallen in every month and averages 420 inches a year.
• Gaming: There are 5 casinos in the South Lake Tahoe area. Together, they have a total of 7,051 slot machines and 411 game tables.
• Skiing: Skiers can hit the slopes on one of the 182 ski trails in the midst of more than 8,800 total ski resort acres. The longest ski run in the area is 5.5 miles long. Lake Tahoe’s greatest vertical drop is 3,600 feet. Both runs are at Heavenly.
• Fishing: The biggest fish ever caught in Lake Tahoe, a Mackinaw lake trout, weighed 37 pounds and 6 ounces.
• Famous Residents: Famous neighbors include and have included Charles Bronson, Cher, Natalie Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minelli, Wayne Newton and the Captain and Tennile.
• Movies Filmed at Lake Tahoe: Indian Love Call, starring Jeanette McDonald, was the first movie to be filmed at Lake Tahoe in the 1920’s. Subsequent films have included The Godfather, starring Al Pacino and Marlon Brando and The Bodyguard, filmed at Fallen Leaf Lake, starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.