Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. at an incredible 1,645 ft. In fact, it is the 16th deepest lake in the world. It is only second to Oregon’s Crater Lake which is 304 ft deeper at a massive 1,949 ft. In fact, it’s considered to be in the top 20 oldest lakes in the world with an age of right around 2 millions years old!
The lake measures 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. That gives it a shoreline that measures a whopping 72 miles long. It is so long that you aren’t able to see the other end due to the curvature of the earth. Crazy huh!? This isn’t the case 100% of the time though. When the air temperature gets much higher than the temperature of the water, a phenomenon called “looming” can occur. Looming makes it appear that the far shore and possibly boats on the lake are actually levitating over the top of the surface of the water.
The lake is split between California and Nevada ( we paddled on the Nevada side). But it is not split evenly. Two third of this massive body of water resides in California. One fact that blew my mind is the fact that the water in Tahoe used to be even clearer. In the 1960s, you were able to see the bottom at over 100 feet deep. Unfortunately, over time, the lake has become more and more eutrophic (having an excessive amount of nutrients). This has led to the visibility being reduced to somewhere around 60 feet.
Check out our kayaking adventure on Sand Harbor and our hike to Chimney Beach for an amazing sunset.
You can hear Dustin’s interview about Lake Tahoe on the Between The Mountains Travel Podcast here
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our Youtube channel, and sign up for our newsletter!
