WATER
SPORTS
BEACHES
BOAT RAMPS
JET SKIING
KAYAKING
PARASAILING
RAFTING
SAILING
SWIMMING POOLS
WATER SKIING
WINDSURFING
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Lake Tahoe
-- Just The Facts
Lake Tahoe is a truly wonderful natural phenomenon. Surrounded by mountains, the
present day lake sits in a valley at an elevation of 6,229 feet. It is the highest lake of its
size in the United States. It is the third deepest lake in North America and the tenth deepest
lake in the world.
Lake Tahoe is 22 miles in length and 12 miles in width and covers a surface area of 191 square
miles. The consistently beautiful shoreline is 71 miles, with the California shoreline being 42
miles and the Nevada shoreline being 29 miles.
This breathtakingly blue lake is so clear that in some places objects can be seen to depths of
75 feet! The reason the lake is so blue is that the thin, clear mountain air allows the lake's
pure, crystalline water to reflect the blue sky above. The lake can also appear red during sunsets
or gray-black during storms.
The average annual rainfall in the Lake Tahoe Basin is 8.3 inches and the average annual snowfall is 216 inches or 18 feet, for a total annual precipitation of 30
inches. (The ski areas average 350 - 600 inches of snow per year!) Most of the snow and rain falls directly into the lake or drains through lakeside marshes and meadows
that act as water filtering systems, preserving the purity of the water.
Sixty-three streams flow into Lake Tahoe, but the Truckee River is the only one that flows out,
past Reno and into Pyramid Lake.
The maximum depth is 1,645 feet, near Crystal Bay, and the average depth is 989 feet. The water
shed of Lake Tahoe is 519 square miles. The lake holds over 39 trillion gallons of water, enough
to cover a flat area the size of California to a depth of 14 inches. If drained, it would take
700 years to refill the lake!
Lake Tahoe loses much if 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.
The maximum surface water temperature is 68 degrees F. and the minimum surface water temperature
is 41 degrees F. Below 600 feet, the lake's water is extremely cold, staying at 39 degrees F.
year-round.
And for the curious, Lake Tahoe never freezes because the huge volume of lake water is always
in motion. Each winter, the cold water on the surface sinks while warm water rises from the deep.
Some protected inlets like Emerald Bay have been covered with a layer of ice at times.
WOW! Choose a ramp and launch out into this beautiful natural blue wonder!
SOUTH & EAST SHORES
Anchorage Marina
SR. 89, 25 miles north of Stateline
 530-542-6570
Cave Rock
U.S. HWY 50 north of Zephyr Cove
775-831-0494
Lakeside Marina
End of Park Avenue off U.S. HWY 50
Stateline
530-541-6626
Round Hill Pines
Off U.S. HWY 50 at Round Hill
775-588-3055
no boat launch ramp
Sand Harbor Boat Ramp
SR 28, 4 miles south of Incline Village
775-831-0494
South Lake Tahoe Recreation Area
& Boat Ramp
Lakeview Avenue, off U.S. HWY 50
Stateline
530-542-6055
Ski Run Marina
Ski Run Blvd., off U.S. HWY 50
530-544-9500
no boat launch ramp
Tahoe Keys Marina
Tahoe Keys Blvd., off U.S. HWY 50
South Lake Tahoe
530-541-2155
Timber Cove Marina
3411 Lake Tahoe Blvd. / U.S. HWY 50
Stateline
530-544-2942
Zephyr Cove Marina
Off U.S. HWY 50 at Zephyr Cove
Zephyr Cove
775-588-3833
no boat launch ramp
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