Courtesy Gotahoenorth.com
How can we spend our free time?
From May to October, cruise aboard the riverboat Tahoe Gal. A full galley and bar provide food and drink for groups of 135 or fewer. If you prefer to steer yourself, try stand-up paddle-boarding on the lake.
• Recharge by skiing North Lake Tahoe’s snowy mountains, home to the country’s largest concentration of ski resorts. Ice skate all year at the Olympic Ice Pavilion at the Squaw Valley USA High Camp. Cross-country enthusiasts revel at Royal Gorge on Donner Summit, the country’s largest cross-country resort.
• Come spring, melting snow reveals golf greens. Among area courses are the Incline Village Championship course, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design with a full view of the lake’s eastern shore from its 16th hole, and Old Brockway, a nine-hole course in Kings Beach, home to the first Bing Crosby Golf Tournament in 1934. Its Dean Martin Loop allows golfers to skip from the fourth hole to the eighth hole for a speedier round and return to the clubhouse bar.
For a true taste of North Lake Tahoe…
Bacchi’s is Old World all the way, from red-checked tablecloths to family-style servings of minestrone, antipasto and bread. In business 80 years, it is a North Tahoe fixture. From the patio at Jason’s Beachside Grille in Kings Beach, the lake’s deep blues are a feast for the eyes. A 12-foot-long salad bar balances slow-roasted prime rib and six different half-pound burgers.
Another waterside experience, River Ranch Lodge Restaurant sidles up to the tumbling Truckee River. Chef Julia Walter has won awards for her wild game meatloaf. Groups of 50 can warm up next to a river rock fireplace in the private dining room. Spindleshanks in Tahoe Vista has also added a private dining room. Housed in a former resort built in 1927, this family restaurant gets creative with dishes such as butternut squash ravioli. Many of the area’s restaurants and bistros, including Graham’s at Squaw Valley, offer dishes that rely on organic, local ingredients.
800-462-5196
www.gotahoenorth.com
