Lake Tahoe is 1,645 feet deep, but only its uppermost 6.1 feet answer to a dam. That band lies between the lake's natural rim at 6,223 feet and its legal ceiling at 6,229.1. At Tahoe City, a dam built between 1909 and 1913 meters water through seventeen gates into the Truckee River, with releases managed by a federal water master. The arrangement works only while the lake remains above its rim. When Tahoe dropped below it on October 24, 2022, outflow at Tahoe City ceased; no lake water entered the Truckee again until December 27. UC Davis says these below-rim episodes appear to be growing more frequent: four occurred from 1900 through 2000 and four more afterward. The latest complete year, 2025, stayed well above that threshold, bottoming at 6,226.62 feet — more than three feet above the point where Tahoe's outlet goes still.
curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
The facts
- Surface area 497.7 km² usgs-3dhp · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Nearest town Glenbrook · 8.2 km osm-overpass · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird species (within 25 mi) 204 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird diversity index 0.92 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Median home value $682,400 census-acs-2024-b25077 · city-level · as of Aug 26, 2026
- Water clarity Glass-clear curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Night sky Darkest skies viirs-black-marble-vnp46a4 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Surroundings Resort — a shoreline built for visitors curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Water origin Natural lake with a regulated outlet curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
In more detail
- Climate
- four-season; cold winters (~31°F mean), cool summers (~60°F); ~28 in precip/yr noaa-normals-1991-2020-descriptor · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Public access
- Lake Tahoe's California shoreline has extensive, multi-jurisdictional public access. California State Parks operates day-use beaches and a non-motorized boat ramp at Kings Beach State Recreation Area; the USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit manages most surrounding forest land and several public beaches; county/local entities (Placer County, North Tahoe Public Utility District, City of South Lake Tahoe) operate additional public parks, beaches, and ramps. Fees/permits: Varies by site: CA State Parks day-use $10/vehicle at Kings Beach SRA plus hourly parking; other county/USFS sites may charge separate parking/day-use fees; a Tahoe Regional Annual Pass (~$75) is accepted at multiple sites.. Sources: parks.ca.gov (fetched 2026-07-12); placer.ca.gov (search-extraction 2026-07-12); tahoepublicbeaches.org (search-extraction 2026-07-12). curated-web-harvest · lake-level · as of Jul 12, 2026
- Dogs and pets
- high — 7 dog parks within 25 mi (OSM); state rule: California State Parks require dogs on a leash no longer than 6 feet at all times. Dogs are generally NOT allowed on state park trails or swim beaches; a small number of parks (e.g. Pismo State Beach / Oceano Dunes SVRA) carve out exceptions allowing leashed dogs on the beach and trails. (California State Parks official pet policy (Dogs & Other Pets page) and Pet Policy FAQ; specific California Code of Regulations Title 14 section number was not located within the search budget., fetched 2026-07-12); curated positive exception: USFS LTBMU welcomes leashed dogs on ~78% of basin lands and names official dog-friendly water sites (Tallac Historic Site, Zephyr Cove area). curated-web-harvest · lake-level · as of Jul 12, 2026
- Property tax
- 0.84% ACS effective-rate proxy (2024 ACS 5-year; Placer County anchor: $5,812 median real-estate taxes paid ÷ $688,100 median owner-occupied home value; California proxy 0.70%, +0.15 percentage points). census-acs-2024-property-tax · county-level · as of Dec 31, 2024
Where it’s heading
Stable hand-rated for v0.1 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
Stable by the established-high-value-market criterion: TRPA's own series has the Tahoe region's population growing by just 3,016 (6%) between 1990 and 2010 and "relatively flat" through 2018 (RTP data appendix), long after the 1960–1980 step change (permanent residents roughly 10,000 → 50,000-plus; Wikipedia); inflation-adjusted gaming revenue in 2018 was half its 1996–2005 level and USFS site visits in 2015 ran 8% below 2005, while occupied lodging is forecast to grow only 14.5% to 2045. Price is a level, not a slope — ACS 2024 medians run $682,400 (South Lake Tahoe) to $1,454,600 (Incline Village), a 2.1× shoreline spread, with no year-over-year series fetched (Redfin/Zillow unreached). Hedges: Measure T (2018) was voided in March 2025, reopening South Lake Tahoe's residential short-term-rental market, and Placer County caps STRs at 3,900 — pressure signals, not a documented growth vector; supply is constrained by TRPA and five permitting jurisdictions.