Lake Tahoe Rim Forest Roads
Lake Tahoe Basin · near Tahoe City / South Lake Tahoe · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Summer–early fall
What is here
- Terrain
- mountain
- Amenities
- Lake Tahoe blue-water views · Ridgeline fire roads · Basin campgrounds · Resort-town amenities
- Best for
- Big alpine climbs with iconic lake panoramas
- Features
- Ride the rim of iconic Lake Tahoe · Big climbs to blue-water views · Forest & fire-road network · Basin camping & towns
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- High altitude & big climbs · Short snow-free season · Some busy connector roads · Afternoon storms
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- day-gravel · adventure
- Surface
- mixed
- Remoteness
- 3
- Riding
- Forest and fire roads climbing the ridges around North America's largest alpine lake — big climbs to blue-water panoramas, mixing pavement, dirt, and rough sections
- Terrain note
- 6,200–8,500 ft around the lake; big climbs; short season; thin air
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- Forest and fire roads on the ridges around Lake Tahoe — the largest alpine lake in North America — with big climbs to spectacular blue-water panoramas. Mix of pavement, smooth dirt, and rough fire roads. High altitude (6,200–8,500 ft): thin air, long climbs, short season, afternoon storms — needs fitness and mountain sense. Basin campgrounds and resort-town amenities. Big alpine climbing above a world-famous lake.
- Trip lengths
- day
The guide
The ridges and forests ringing Lake Tahoe — the largest alpine lake in North America — hold a network of forest and fire roads …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Tahoe Rim Forest Roads — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.1, -120