Customer Reviews

Top Trails Lake Tahoe: Must-do Hikes for Everyone

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Lake Tahoe is the premier vacation destination of the northern Sierra Nevada. Most people associate Tahoe with winter ski resorts but summer hiking is superb. In addition to numerous state park nature trails and wilderness hikes in the national forests that surround the Lake, the Tahoe region is also home to three of the top distance trails in the country. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through the Tahoe region and it shares some of its tread with the historic Tahoe Yosemite Trail. A third trail, which also partly overlaps the other two is the Tahoe Rim Trail, a project of the citizens of Lake Tahoe. Almost entirely built by volunteer labor, this trail circles the Lake for 165 miles. Sections of all these trails and more and well described in the new edition of this book by Mike White, a resident of Truckee and an outdoor teacher and author.

This book divides the Tahoe region into the cardinal points of the compass and includes some stellar hikes in each. I have taken hikes in each of the areas White describes and all are very nice. This book offers a wide selection, from 18 mile day hikes along the Tahoe Rim trail (the section over Relay Peak is one of my favorites) to short 1/2 mile nature trails, the best of which is outside the visitor center along Taylor Creek. White also explains all the regulatory requirements of the various wilderness areas. This is a great book for exploring Lake Tahoe, whether you want strenuous peak bagging hikes or just strolls with the family. I recommend it highly.

My favorite feature in this book is the front table listing the name of each trail; where more details can be found about it within the book; its length; the part of the Tahoe region in which the trail is found; whether the trail loops or is a one way or out & back trail; how difficult it is; suitability for hikers, bikers, runners, horses, and dogs; terrain features (canyons, moutains, streams, wild flowers, lakes, waterfall, autumn colors, wildlife sightings); whether it's cool and shady, has good views or photo opps; camping and more. All communicated via icons in one table!!! We had never been to the area and found its descriptions of where to find the trails generally spot on as was advice over when to make sure to get there early. Also handy: elevation & mileage charts with landmarks within individual trail descriptions, a zoomed in map of each trail, and photos of trail features.

This is a good book that gets you to the trail heads. Why didn't this latest printing include GPS coordinates? Otherwise the book is accurate and informative on the two hikes I took.

Bought this book and took it up a few weekends ago to Truckee. It is currently two out of two for finding great hikes! This book is very well organized with a table showing hikes and their features (e.g., difficulty, terrain, dogs allowed, other users of trail, loop/up-and-back, etc.) Every section also has a short summary describing the hikes to choose from in that area followed by a more detailed description of each individual hike. Must have book if you're going to be spending time in the area hiking and don't want to spend a lot of time looking for hikes.

I searched through 2 bags of books to determine the best overall book for hiking trails in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This is by way the winner. It has most hikes, is very easy to follow and is accurate. I have hiked with it on occassion when detailed descriptions are helpful to navigate. Other times just reading it prior to the hike is enough. Trailheads are easy to find desriptions and very helpful. Use the scale of difficulty - it will help plan for a more enjoyable day for you and your fellow hikers.

I highly recommend this book to anyone going to this beautiful area. I did 5 hikes from this book during a week-long vacation to South Lake Tahoe. Evey hike, as promised, was a "must do" hike. The directions to the trail heads were clear, and the elevation gain/loss maps were especially helpful. I also appreciated the handy tail key in the front of the book, indicating trail difficulty as well as where we would most likely be able to see fall colors. My vacation was so much more enjoyable because of this book.

The descriptions are accurate in terms of finding the trailhead, how difficult the hike is(milage and elevation change), and the features of the trail. On a recent trip to the southern end of Lake Tahoe, we found several trails that weren't far away and that were perfect for our multi-age group, of varying abilities and interests. The smaller lakes, vistas and waterfalls are so worth the effort to go visit them!
I bought this and Best Easy Day Hiking Guide and Trail Map bundle and we used both.

The descriptions are acurate and are easy to read and informative. Love this book! The hikes we did were absolutely spectacular and you can trust the descriptions to the word. Very recommended!