Entertainment

South Lake Tahoe is on the border with Nevada, so there are plenty of opportunities to try your luck at the casinos right across the state line. Some popular ones are Harrah’s and Hard Rock.

The Shops at Heavenly Village offers a wide variety of shopping and dining options, as well as spas, a movie theater, and mini-golf.

Lake Activities

From where we’re recommending guests stay, the closest place to rent boats and water gear (~5 min walk) is through Action Watersports or Kayak Tahoe. They’re located at a strip of beach, unnamed on Google Maps but locally called Connolley Beach. (Our top hotel recommendations have private beaches, but as far as we can tell, they don’t have rentals on-site.)

Just down the road (~20 min walk) is the larger public beach, El Dorado Beach (also called Lakeview Commons). Right next door is Thomas F Regan Memorial City Beach (Regan Beach, for short). We’ll be having our welcome picnic there. Both beaches have free parking and no access fees.

Up the coast towards the Nevada stateline is Lakeside Beach. Often busy with the hotel crowd from this area, it has an adjacent restaurant, and charges a $10 entrance fee per person. In the opposite direction, towards Emerald Bay, is Pope Beach, a wide sandy beach known for being scenic and a bit quieter – it has a $10 parking fee per vehicle.

The lake offers a variety of activities: paddleboarding, kayaking, boating, jetskiing, even parasailing. Plenty of rental options can be found at the beaches (generally located at the boat docks). We’ll update this page if we find any great deals!

Outdoor Adventure

Heavenly ski resort becomes a different kind of playground in the summer, called Epic Discovery, with a mountain coaster, tubing, and rock climbing.

For hiking, we recommend heading to nearby Emerald Bay State Park. (Emerald Bay, considered one of Tahoe’s greatest treasures, is also home to the lake’s only island, which you can reach by boat, kayak, or jet ski.) Two popular moderate hikes in the park, both a little under 2 miles, are Eagle Lake and Cascade Falls.

Sightseeing

Also in Emerald Bay State Park is Vikingsholm, a hidden castle that’s considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. Tours are offered every half hour from 10:30 - 4, for $10/person. (To get to the castle from the parking lot, it’s a steep 1 mile on foot, so visitors must be physically able to hike in/out.)

For another blast from the past, Tallac Historic Site offers guided or self-guided tours of three summer estates built between 1894 and 1930. It’s an easy, relaxing walk around the grounds, which are right on the lake; there’s also an authentic blacksmith shop. Tallac Historic Site is located near Pope Beach and on the way to Emerald Bay.