Meanwhile, outdoor recreation is booming. For rock climbers, access to local favorite Lover's Leap, near the southern shore, has been improved in recent years, as have the facilities along Donner Pass Road an hour north of the lake, where climbers park to access Donner Summit. An expanding number of outfits around the lake are renting kayaks. And, of course, there's the Tahoe Rim Trail. Lake Tahoe is a two-hour drive from Sacramento and less than four hours from San Francisco.
Shuttle services are available from the airport.
The Tahoe Rim Trail is divided into nine segments, which are accessed by trailheads scattered around the lake. Lodging and Dining Lake Tahoe has many reasonably priced motels.