Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe · near South Lake Tahoe · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Ballooning
At a glance
- Price
- top
- Season
- 2
- Best season
- Summer season, roughly May through mid-October; sunrise launches from the lake
- Open year round
- No
What is here
- Scenery
- lake
- Amenities
- Launch & land on the Tahoe Flyer boat · Emerald Bay & Sierra-crest views · Pre-flight lake cruise · A truly one-of-a-kind flight
- Best for
- A one-of-a-kind over-water alpine flight
- Features
- Only over-water launch of its kind in the US · Lifts off from a boat on the lake · 360° alpine-lake panorama · Emerald Bay from above
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Summer season only — snow closes the show in winter · Over-water flight — a pilot AND boat captain clear the weather · Cold alpine dawns; dress warmly · Higher price & limited daily capacity — book early
- Family friendly
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Lake Tahoe Balloons
Ballooning detail
- Experiences
- private
- Occasion
- adventure
- Flight notes
- The only over-water balloon flight of its kind in the US — the balloon lifts off from and lands back on a custom vessel in the middle of the lake, floating you over the impossibly blue water with Emerald Bay and the Sierra crest spread out 360° below
- Logistics note
- ~$399 pp; ~1 hr aloft, ~4 hr total incl. the boat cruise; sunrise; May–October season
- Intl tip
- The most unusual balloon flight in the country — the only one of its kind in the US that launches and lands from a boat on the water. You board the Tahoe Flyer before sunrise, the balloon lifts off from the deck, and you float over the impossibly blue lake with Emerald Bay and the Sierra crest 360° below, then land back on the boat. Run by Lake Tahoe Balloons out of South Lake Tahoe; summer season (~May–October), ~4 hr total, ~$399 pp. A splurge with limited capacity — book early, dress warmly, stay flexible for weather.
- Nickname
- the only balloon flight of its kind in the US — lifting off from and landing back on a boat in the middle of an alpine lake
The guide
Lake Tahoe is home to the most unusual balloon flight in the country: the only adventure of its kind in the United States that …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Tahoe — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.96, -120