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Interesting Facts
- Lake Tahoe is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. Its shoreline is approximately 71 miles long – California gets 42 miles of that while Nevada claims 29. For comparison purposes, the lake's length is said to equal the width of the English Channel.
- At an elevation of 6225 feet, the lake has an average temperature of 68° Fahrenheit during the summer and 41° Fahrenheit in the winter. Interestingly, the lake never freezes due to the volume of water and its constant cycle from the top of the lake to the bottom.
- Swimming in cold Lake Tahoe is a danger, especially since the water's clarity and currents created by run-off can be deceiving. In addition, the water can quickly chill a body and incapacitate it. Even more sobering: water temperature doesn't allow bodies to rise to the surface, so corpses aren't always recovered from the depths.
- Lake Tahoe reaches a depth of more than 1600 feet, allowing it to hold an immense quantity of water. If the water were poured out over California, a common analogy cites, it would cover the state to a uniformity exceeding 14 inches.
- Lake Tahoe is so clear that folks can often see objects submerged 78 feet in the water. Several factors are responsible for this: Rainwater either falls directly into the lake or is filtered by grasses before flowing into the lake. In addition, local sewage is transported away. As an aside, the water's brilliant blue color is due to its clarity and depth, which reflect the expansive sky.
- Unusual for an American lake, Tahoe doesn't ever drain into the ocean. While 63 streams flow into the lake, waters only exit into Pyramid Lake, via the Truckee River.
- As the multitude of ski resorts indicates, snowfall around Lake Tahoe is abundant. At lake-level, it's annually about 125 inches. Higher in the mountains, where skiing is best, snowfall is often anywhere from 300 to 500 inches per year.
- Given its relative proximity to Hollywood, Lake Tahoe has served as the backdrop for a number of movies and TV shows over the years. Among them were "Bonanza," the Whitney Houston vehicle "The Bodyguard," and "The Godfather: Part II." In addition, many celebrities live in the area and frequent its resorts.
- Cal Neva Resort, once owned by Frank Sinatra, is a long-lived celebrity haunt and was especially so during Sinatra's tenure during the early 1960s, when the Rat Pack and Marilyn Monroe often attended. The resort is named for its position on the boundary between the two states; in fact, folks can physically straddle the state line inside the resort.
- Not only does the region around Lake Tahoe offer a good supply of terrific ski resorts, but it also boasts more than 40 golf courses, making it eminently capable of handling your recreational needs. Furthermore, excellent parks provide opportunity for a wealth of outdoor activities, including hiking, cross country skiing, and biking. If you're an angler, you might also dream of catching a hefty specimen. The lake's record was a Mackinaw lake trout that weighed in at 37 pounds, 6 ounces.
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