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LAKE TAHOE FACTS & HISTORY |
     
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LAKE TAHOE FACTS & HISTORY |
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Surrounded by mountains, Lake Tahoe 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, has a shoreline of 71 miles, and covers a surface area of 191 square miles. The maximum depth is 1,645 feet, near Crystal Bay, and the average depth is 989 feet.
The watershed 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.
The lake is so clear that in some places objects can be seen to depths of 75 feet. The clear lake water reflects the color of the sky above, appearing dark blue, or 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. Sixty-three streams flow into Lake Tahoe, but the Truckee River is the only one that flows out, past Reno and into Pyramid Lake.
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.
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The first humans to enjoy the Lake Tahoe Basin as long as 10,000 years ago were the Native American culture group known as the Washoe, known today as the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. They migrated each summer from the Carson Valley area seeking the cooler temperatures, abundant fish and plentiful game of Lake Tahoe. The Washoe women made exceptionally fine baskets of remarkable artistry.
"Da-ow-a-ga" was the Wahsoe Indian name for the lake, meaning “edge of the lake”. The Washoes considered "the jewel of the Sierra" the birthplace of their heritage. The area from Taylor Creek to Camp Richardson was a favorite site, as was the area between current Highway 50 and Nevada Beach.The Indian heritage was about to change when, in February 1844, U.S. Army explorer John C. Fremont and his party, guided by the legendary scout Christopher “Kit” Carson, viewed part of Lake Tahoe when they arrived at the top of Red Lake Peak, 10,651 feet elevation, at what is now Carson Pass. This area is located 20 miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe. Fremont wrote "…I ascended today the highest peak… from which we had a beautiful view of a mountain lake at our feet, about 15 miles in length, and so nearly surrounded by mountains that we could not discover an outlet."
Fremont designated it "Lake Bonpland" on his post-exploration maps of the region. The name was bestowed in honor of the famed French explorer and botanist, Alme' J. Alexander Bonpland, who accompanied Baron Alex von Homboldt on his North American expedition. Bonpland never came into general usage, however, nor did the other name, "Mountain Lake", also attributed to Fremont. By 1853 the new State of California's official mapmaker named it "Lake Bigler" in honor of the third governor of California, John Bigler. Both California and Nevada adopted the name, but it rested uneasily on the crown jewel of the Sierra and remained in general use until late in 1862. William Henry Knight, an early and wholehearted admirer of the basin, left the name Bigler off federal geological survey maps of the region he was preparing, and began a crusade to adopt the name “Tahoe”, an English version of the Washoe name “da ow”. And so it was that "Tahoe" appeared for the first time on maps issued from the Land Office in Washington, D.C. in 1862.
For many years thereafter, the area was virtually ignored. The first West-to-East road across the mountains, the "Bonanza Road," was built to handle travelers eager to cash in on Virginia City's massive Comstock Lode, which was discovered in 1859. Highway 50 now covers this route.Way stations, stables and tollhouses sprang up along the route. These stations were the basis for most development in the area, from Friday's Station at Stateline, which served as a Pony Express stop, to Yank's Resort in Meyer's, which was built in 1851.
During the 1860s Tahoe became the center of a lively commerce involving the silver mines in Virginia City and the Central Pacific Railroad, which was pushing over the Sierra toward the town of Truckee. Lumber was needed to supply the mines, the new boomtowns and the railroad. An extensive logging empire was established on the east shore of the lake from Incline Village to Glenbrook. The loggers clear-cut the entire shoreline until both the silver mines and the demand for timber ceased in the late 1870s to early 1880s.
By the 1890s the only industry that showed promise was tourism, so the rush began to build resorts. Reports of Lake Tahoe's beauty did not go unnoticed by the wealthy families of San Francisco, and by the turn of the century the lake had become a haven for the well to do. Popular hotels of the era included the Tallac House, Tahoe Tavern and the Glenbrook Inn. This period marked the heyday of steamship transportation around the lake, with tourists, mail and supplies delivered around the lake.
Development at Lake Tahoe began in earnest in the 1950's. Roads to the Basin began to be plowed year-round, enabling permanent residence. By action of the California state legislature in 1945, Lake Tahoe became the official name of the lake. The 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley put Lake Tahoe firmly on the map as the skiing center of the western United States.
In 1968, growing environmental concerns caused California and Nevada to form the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to oversee environmentally responsible development in the Basin designed to improve the local tourism industry while protecting the fragile environment on which it is based.
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The Tahoe basin was formed about five to ten million years ago by the rising and falling of the land due to the shifting of geologic faults. Tremendous forces began the western tilt of the Sierra Nevada block. As a result, two principal parallel faults developed. The eastern margin created the Carson Range and the western margin created the Sierra Nevada. The up-thrown fault blocks created the highest peaks in the region. The down-thrown fault blocks sank to create a deep v-shaped valley, the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Later, about two million years ago, volcanic activity followed and played a key role in further reshaping the landscape of the region. Lava flowing from Mt. Pluto formed a barrier across the Basin's northeastern outlet, creating a natural dam across Lake Tahoe's original outlet, the Truckee River. Water from the snowfall and streams gradually filled the Lake Tahoe Basin, over 600 feet higher than its present lake level! Eventually, a new outlet eroded through the northeastern lava dam, creating the present path of the Lower Truckee River, the only outlet of the lake.
An Ice Age developed and huge glaciers grew in the surrounding mountains and gradually moved down the v-shaped canyons on the western side of the lake. The glaciers scoured away loose rock and reshaped the canyons into the broad, u-shaped valleys of Emerald Bay, Fallen Leaf Lake and Cascade Lake.
The peaks that surround Lake Tahoe are mountains of granite. This light gray, medium to coarse-grained rock is prevalent in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, along with other igneous rocks and metamorphic slate. Today, the highest point in the Tahoe Basin is Freel Peak at 10,881 feet. The deepest part of Lake Tahoe is near Crystal Bay, measuring a water depth of 1,645 feet.Back to top
Trees
Alder, Aspen, Cedar, Jeffrey Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Sierra Juniper, Sugar Pine, White Fir, Willow
Wildflowers
Blue & Purple: Dwarf Alpine Aster, Lupine, Meadow Penstemon
Pink & Red: Columbine, Indian Paintbrush, Shooting Star, Snow Plant, Thistle
White: Calif. Corn Lily, Common Yarrow, Cow Parsnip, Mariposa Lily, Ranger Buttons
Yellow: Buttercup, Mountain Mule Ears, Sulphur Flowers
Birds
American Robin, Bald Eagle, California Gull, Canada Goose, Dark-eyed Junco, Hairy Woodpecker, Mallard, Mountain Chickadee, Red-tailed Hawk, Steller's Jay, Western Tanager, Yellow-Headed Blackbird
Mammals
Black Bear, Coyote, Douglas Squirrel (Chikaree), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, Mule Deer, Pine Martin, Yellow-bellied Marmot
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