South Lake Tahoe Beaches

Kiva Beach is one of the harder to find beaches, just because of the lack of signs. It's located just north of Camp Richardson. Turn right at the Forest Service Visitor Center turnoff and follow the road past the Visitor's Center (this is also the parking for the stream profile chamber) to the beach parking lot. There is a short walk to the beach, but the parking is free. You can also park at the Visitor's Center and enjoy a longer walk (not quite a hike) along the meadow to Kiva Beach (no dogs on this trail though). The beach itself is a huge flat sandy plain that lies at the mouth of Taylor Creek. The water, however, is a bit rocky until you get a little ways out. You can go out a long way, though. There are fantastic views of the surrounding mountains, especially Mount Tallac. Mid summer, like in other parts of

Round Hill Pines Beach

On the southern end of Marla Bay on the flanks of Round Mound is a half mile of sandy beach known as Round Hill Pines. There is plenty to do here since it is also the home of the Tahoe Bleu Wave, H20 Watersports, and the Lakeside Bar & Grill. If that's not enough you can try your luck with tennis or take a dip in the heated pool. A limited number of picnic tables are available and tend to get dragged around wherever needed. The pier would be an ideal place for jumping into the lake if it weren't so strictly forbidden. This is also a great place to watch the sunsets. Some summer evenings there is even live music during the sunset.

Pope Beach

As you leave South Lake Tahoe heading up the west shore on Hwy 89 you'll come to a series of beaches that all seem very similar in nature. The first of these is Pope Beach, which is basically a one mile long 300 foot wide strip of sand separating the Truckee Marsh from Lake Tahoe. Pope beach is operated by the USDA forest service, which means there will be a parking fee. This is an excellent beach for families, with lots of sand, room, clear shallow water, and relative shelter from the winds. The parking lot runs the entire length of the beach so there are no long walks. There are plenty of picnic tables and grills as well. Currently, the Forest Service is not always allowing the use of the grills. Don't be surprised to arrive and find them gone. There are also restrooms scattered along the length of the beach.

Baldwin Beach

The third and last (as you head North) of the series of southwest shore sandy beaches is Baldwin. The turnoff for Baldwin Beach is clearly marked on Highway 89. There is a five dollar parking fee. Once in you have the choice of the south or north beach. Both are very similar, except that Tallac Creek meets Lake Tahoe at the north beach, which is interesting for the kids. Beware! There are fence posts in the creek that for some reason still have barbed wire attached. On the north side of the creek you will almost always notice a lot of boats parked/moored/anchored. This is commonly referred to as Ski Beach (not to be confused with Ski Beach in Incline Village since everyone's welcome here). Unlike Kiva Beach in South Lake Tahoe, there are very few, if any, rocks in the water at Baldwin Beach. Additionally, unlike Pope Beach, there is no shade here. Dogs are not allowed. They are strict about this but you typically can take them on a leash to to ski beach, where they are ok.

Zephr Cove Beach

Zephyr Cove has just about everything you could want in a beach in South Lake Tahoe. Over a mile of sand, although it is coarse to walk on, the region's best volleyball, a 500+ passenger vessel, a 36 passenger catamaran, a huge grassy group event area, every kind of water sport rental you could imagine, and the Sunset Bar overlooking it all with cocktail servers roaming the beach. The beach does have a certain party atmosphere that some families may find offensive. The further you are from the bar, the less of a problem it is. This can usually be avoided just by staying a distance from the bar area. With a mile of beach there is plenty of room. There is a $8 (at press time) parking fee but even so, it often becomes unavailable. When this happens they will park you at the high school across Hwy 50 and shuttle you to the beach.

Regen Beach

Regan Beach has a very park like setting and is right in the heart of South Lake Tahoe. It also happens to be just two short miles from our Ormsby vacation rental. Being so close to so many great places to see will make your next trip to South Lake Tahoe a truly memorable one.