Girls' Weekend at Lake Tahoe
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, where I receive a small commission on sales of the linked products at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I genuinely love and use!
Getting there
If you’re flying to visit Lake Tahoe, you have several airport options:
- Fresno -Yosemite International (FAT)
- Oakland International (OAK)
- Sacramento International (SMF) – I chose SMF due to proximity, flight times, and flight costs
- San Jose International (SJC)
- San Francisco International (SFO)
- Reno/Tahoe International (RNO)
This girls’ weekend in Lake Tahoe was part of a 10-day California itinerary that included Yosemite National Park and Napa Valley. To see the full details, click here.
May 26th – Travel day TPA to SMF, then 2-hour drive to Lake Tahoe.
I started this epic California adventure by flying into Sacramento (SMF) and meeting my best friend, Supriya. We left her car in the economy lot and drove my rental to Lake Tahoe! We arrived in the dark at our Airbnb – The Chalet at Kings Beach.
3 days at Lake Tahoe
We kicked off Day 1 at Lake Tahoe with the Eagle Lake Trail hike, arriving in the parking lot by 7:00 AM. This entire hike was so beautiful! It will forever remain a favorite. From there, we went to the Cascade Falls trailhead. The combination of errors on Google Maps and tree removal taking place made it a little tricky to find, but we eventually made it. Being a shorter hike, we thought it would be more crowded than Eagle Lake but we only saw a handful of other people (and lots of cute dogs).
Alltrails stats for Eagle Lake: Length – 1.8 mi; Elevation Gain – 429 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Moderate
Alltrails stats for Cascade Falls: Length – 1.3 mi; Elevation Gain – 209 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Moderate
After our first 2 hikes, we picked up lunch to-go at Pep’s Place and then back to the Airbnb to get ready for our annual bestie photoshoot. We met our photographer Kaitlyn Hubbard at Sand Harbor Beach and frolicked around the trees and beach. Lake Tahoe offers the best scenery!
When we were done playing at the beach, we were supposed to pick up paddleboards. But the winds were too strong at the Lake and we weren’t able to rent them. So we made our way back to change and then walked to dinner at Caliente. The Google reviews aren’t great, but we loved it!
Day 2 was supposed to start off with the Sierra Cloud Mimosa Cruise. However, due to the high winds that weekend, it was sadly canceled. Instead, we made our way to the Stateline Lookout trailhead. If you choose to hike this trail, be mindful that it is in a neighborhood. Parking should only be done in designated spots (which were tricky to find). After Stateline, we had a yummy breakfast at Sage Leaf. With the mimosa cruise and paddle boarding being canceled, we had a lot of extra free time. We asked some of the restaurant staff what we should do, and they recommended the Made in Tahoe festival that was happening in Olympic Valley.
The festival was full of local vendors and live music. Such a great time!
After the festival, we ventured off on another hike! This time Secret Cove Beach (clothing optional) to Whale Cove Beach. The wind was strong and the water was cold, but seeing this beautiful shoreline was worth the hike.
Alltrails stats for Stateline Lookout: Length – 1.7 mi; Elevation Gain – 305 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Easy
Alltrails stats for Secret Cove Beach to Whale Cove Beach: Length – 3.1 mi; Elevation Gain – 298 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Moderate
Morning 3 was our last few hours together for our annual girl’s weekend before we were heading back to Sacramento. We had booked a Via Ferrata tour in Squaw Valley at 8:00 AM. Like paddleboarding and our mimosa cruise, it was canceled. Not for wind this time, but because the road up the mountain had frozen overnight.
The guides were apologetic and recommended the Shirley Canyon trail nearby. So we set off for our 4th hike of the weekend! As bummed as we were, the beautiful waterfalls on this trail turned our feelings around fast. This was such a great spot to end our weekend.
Alltrails stats for Shirley Canyon: Length – 4 mi; Elevation Gain – 1,374 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Hard
After this hike, we started to make our way back to SMF so that I could drop Supriya off at her car and pick up Cameron for our Yosemite and Napa adventure! With all of our original plans canceled, we jokingly described this weekend as the most depressing, fun weekend we had ever had. When you’re exploring the outdoors, remember to be patient and roll with the punches if weather affects your plans.