Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, and with a depth of 1,645 feet it is the second-deepest lake in the United States (behind Crater Lake in Oregon). If you’ve ever been to Tahoe, you know: this lake is absolutely gorgeous!
The water is so clear that you might have a hard time believing your own eyes. Not only is the water in the lake gorgeous, but this massive expanse of crystalline-blue fluid is ringed on all sides by majestic mountain peaks.
While the Tahoe area is known as a world-class skiing and snowboarding destination during the winter, it is also an excellent mountain bike destination during the summer.
Ride
Much of the mountain biking around Lake Tahoe can be found on the Tahoe Rim Trail. Measuring 165 miles long, the TRT is a high-alpine singletrack trail that circles all the way around the lake. Unfortunately, only certain segments of the trail are open to mountain biking–about half of the total length, which still works out to over 80 miles of amazing singletrack!
The tread on the TRT is pretty similar to a lot of Colorado singletrack: a sandy, gravelly consistency that can feel loose at times or rock-solid, depending on the moisture level.
The technical difficulty of the trail can vary depending on the section, and here and there you can find some serious rocks and boulders to play on. But for the most part, the trail is relatively non-technical and very flowy!
Much of the singletrack is located high on the mountainsides, rolling through pine forests with next to zero undergrowth. The trees open up frequently to offer glimpses of the lake below, and at times the trail climbs high enough to break out above treeline into high-alpine meadows.
The Flume Trail is probably the most famous trail in the Tahoe area. The Flume section of the trail is pretty short–only 4 to 5 miles–but it connects to the TRT so you can easily make it into a much longer ride. Still, at only 4ish miles in length, it’s worth riding for the views alone!
For more information about my ride last summer on the TRT and Flume Trail, check out this article.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is a grueling 20-mile loop of road climbing and technical singletrack descending near South Lake Tahoe. With 3,300 feet of climbing and 3,300 feet of descending, there is plenty of up and down to get your heart rate through the roof on this ride!
If you enjoy riding chair lifts to the top of the mountain (and who doesn’t, at least every now and then?) then be sure to check out Northstar Resort on the north end of the lake. Northstar has plenty of gnarly DH trails filled with enough tech sections, drops, and jumps to keep you busy for days!
Shuttle
Since much of the best mountain biking in the Tahoe area is on point-to-point singletrack, you can either do a bunch of out-and-back rides, try to loop with other nearby trails or roads, or you can shuttle. Shuttling is generally the best way to get maximum singletrack fun in a short amount of time.
If you have somebody who is willing to drive you or you have access to two vehicles, you could do your own shuttles. However, most of the time it is much more convenient and removes a lot of headache and extra driving time to just pay someone to drive you to the other end of the trail.
During my visit last summer, I used Flume Trail Bikes to do a great shuttle ride of the TRT and Flume Trails. Flume Trail Bikes has recently relocated, and can now be found in Incline Vilage.
Wanna Ride is another great shuttle service that serves several different parts of the Tahoe Rim Trail, as well as a few other rides in the area. They are based on the opposite end of the lake from Flume Trail Bikes (South Lake Tahoe) and focus mostly on rides in that area.
Stay
There are numerous campgrounds spread all around Lake Tahoe. The Mount Rose campground is near the northeast corner of the lake and is quite close to some excellent trails. The Fallen Leaf campground is located on the southern end of the lake and is conveniently located right outside the town of South Lake Tahoe. On the northwestern corner of the lake, the Tahoe State Recreation area is a good choice.
If you are looking for a hotel, there are plenty to be found in the town of South Lake Tahoe. Since the California/Nevada state line runs through the center of town, the northern half of South Lake Tahoe is dominated by casinos. If that’s your scene, there are plenty of rooms there. However, there are plenty of smaller hotels away from the casinos (on the California side of town) as well.
If you want to find a room on the northern end of the lake, I’d recommend checking out one of the ski resorts: either Northstar at Tahoe or Squaw Valley. The towns of Tahoe City and Incline Village aren’t as well developed or as busy as South Lake Tahoe, so if you can even find a hotel room you’ll probably end up paying more $$ than the room is actually worth.
Eat
For great pizza and cheap beer in South Lake Tahoe, I personally recommend Sierra Pizza. On the north end, Gar Woods Grill is a swanky brunch spot with excellent views and a long pier jutting into the lake. There are so many great restaurants in the area–and Tahoe is a pretty big area!
For burgers and beer in Tahoe City, try checking out the Bridgetender.
Conclusion
Lake Tahoe is a pretty big area to cover in one mountain bike trip, but thanks to all of the available infrastructure from the local ski scene along with the area shuttle services, it is totally manageable. If you do take the time to visit Tahoe, I can guarantee that you’ll fall in love with the views and the trails, and it will take you a long time to pack the car and head back home on your last day!
Nice guide for the area. I’ve only biked in Tahoe once and stuck to the north side the whole trip so this article has me stoked to go back and explore the south side!
One idea I’ve kicked around is bikepacking the Tahoe Rim (at least the parts that are open to bikes). It would be fun to find a way to connect all the singletrack sections and it looks like there are campgrounds all around the lake.
Admittedly I didn’t rough it on my last Tahoe trip. If you have the means, check out the Ritz at Northstar. Amazing rooms and outdoor pool PLUS you’re right at the bottom of the lifts for the bike park.
I’m a little surprised that there isn’t a supported TRT trip by any shuttle company or guide companies already. You’d think this is something that a company like Western Spirit would be into: you could ride all day and meet Western Spirit at the next campground, and they’d have food all ready to go when you roll into the campsite.
I checked Western Spirit’s site, and they don’t have any trips in California. Maybe someone else does a similar style trip and we just don’t know about it?
There are a few outfitters in the area who do supported rides, but they all look like single-day outings and none around the TRT outside the Flume area.
Maybe there’s no multiday TRT packages offered because so much of the TRT is closed to bikes? Certainly, there would be plenty of detours required.
Even if, say, they had to shuttle people from spot to spot, you think it would be a neat experience to offer.
And if you did want to ride the whole thing, doing a lot of detours isn’t unprecedented. On the Tour Divide race and the Colorado Trail there are a lot of detours around wilderness areas.
If you guys head out this way, give me a shout, I’d love to hook up and ride! I’m not super familiar with all of the Tahoe trails, but I ride everything from Downieville to Sacramento.
I loved our trip to Tahoe last year. The Flume Trail’s views were just amazing! We stayed at one of the “backcountry” cabins at Spooner Lake and had an awesome time. Highly recommended…
would an AM bike would be too much to bring? or should I stick to a trail bike?
If you’re planning on doing some DH at the resort, and don’t want to rent a DH bike, I’m sure you’d be fine on the other trails with an am bike.
Some of the trails are harder than others, but on my ride on the Tahoe Rim and flume trails I rode a hardtail 29er and it was perfect. So if you’re NOT planning on taking your bike up the chairlift I’d recommend a trail bike.
I always find it amazing that there is this one awesome long singletrack but only part of it is open to mountain bikers. That is crazy. It is all the same trail, let the whole thing be open to all user groups!
One problem is that the TRT overlaps with another “one awesome long singletrack” known as the Pacific Crest Trail, which is closed to bikes–which is another bunch of BS all its own. Add to that the Wilderness areas that the TRT passes through and one separately managed state park, and you’re gonna have this issue–as usual, it’s only the MTBs that get shorted in the process.
PCT: Perfect Cycling Trail
I just think that is sucks that it is always the bikers gettnig the short end of the straw! I mean at all of the trail builds we put on here in St. louis there is one equestrian owner that will show up from time to time and a hand full of hikers that make it to one or two a year! And all of the trails that do not allow bikers are in such horrible condition it’s not even funny! Only the trails that are maintained by bikers get any attention. Gee I wonder why!!!
How true, Greaser. There are actually parts of the PCT that are overgrown from underuse! And the very same hikers that complain about the lack of trail maintenance to clear their beloved trail are the most vehement anti-bikers.
And all they would have to do is allow bikers on there sacred section of trial and in a week or two it would be in way better conditions! It is amazing the amount of bikers that will come out to a trial build or maintenance day! And we do not have a very large club here in St. louis compared to other places!
I’ll ride Tahoe Rim one day. It looks like a unique place and experience should be incomparable too.
Trails closed to bikes, as I know, because of higher impact. I rode a few trails where horses allowed and that was horrible. No bike can do that much damage then the horse. Just saying.
Besides PCT and Appalachian I wouldn’t mind to ride through Grand Canyon
I just moved back to the Tahoe Basin. If anyone on here wants to get in some Tahoe miles, I know many trails and am willing to explore the ones I do not know. I’m here, lets ride!!