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We learned a lot about Tahoe during our recent visit. Here, we share some of the fun facts we discovered about the beautiful, famous lake they call “Big Blue”.

15 Fun Facts about Lake Tahoe

1. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. with a depth of 1,645 ft (501 m).

2. At its longest and widest, Lake Tahoe measures 22 miles (35 km) by 12 miles (19km).

3. The shoreline circumference of the lake is 72 miles (116km).

4. The average surface elevation is 6,225 ft (1,897 m) above sea level.

5. Lake Tahoe is 2/3 in California and 1/3 in the state of Nevada.

6. There are 63 tributaries draining into Lake Tahoe with only one outlet at the Truckee River in Tahoe City.

7. The sun shines at Lake Tahoe for 75% of the year, or 274 days.

8. At lake level, annual snowfall averages 125 inches. At alpine skiing elevations, the snowfall averages 600 inches per year.

9. At the surface, Lake Tahoe’s water temperature varies from 41 to 68 degrees F. Below a depth of 600 to 700 ft, the water remains a constant 39 degrees.

10. If you were to pour Lake Tahoe out onto an area the size of California, the water would still be 14 inches (36 cm) deep.

11. The amount of water in Lake Tahoe (39 trillion gallons) is enough to supply each person in the U.S. with 50 gallons of water per day for 5 years.

12. The amount of water that evaporates from the Lake each day (330 million gallons) could supply a city the size of Los Angeles for 5 years.

13. The water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest large lakes in the world. For comparison, commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure.

14. Lake Tahoe is over 2 million years old. Tahoe is considered an ancient lake and is counted among the 20 oldest lakes in the world.

15. Year-round resident population is 53,000. Total population can reach 300,000 on peak days. About three million people visit Lake Tahoe each year. This is comparable to the numbers of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park (3.2 million) and Yellowstone National Park (2.7 million).

These Fun Facts were sourced from: TahoeFund.org and Go Tahoe North

Plus. find out the 12 things we love about Tahoe in our blog post, along with a few tips.

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