A dazzlingly clear alpine lake high in the Sierra Nevada.
Surface area
495 km²
Maximum depth
about 501 m
Elevation
1,897 m
Continent
North America
Countries
United States
Did you know?
Tahoe is so deep it almost never freezes, and holds enough water to cover all of California about 30 cm deep.
Little-known fact
Its water is famously clear — objects can be seen over 20 m down — though clarity has slipped with development.
Highlights
- A clear high Sierra lake
- Deep enough to flood a state
- Water clear tens of metres down
Life in the Lake Tahoe
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
North American beaver
Nature’s engineer: its dams create wetlands that reshape whole river valleys.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Water plants & reeds
Cattail (bulrush)
The brown sausage-headed reed of marshy shallows, edible from root to pollen.
Interactive · 3D dive
How deep does a lake go?
A lake is layered from the sunlit, weed-filled shallows down to a cold, dark bed. Tap a zone to dive the submersible through the water column — and meet the life that belongs at each depth.
Tip: hover the column to tilt it · tap a layer to dive
Littoral Zone
The warm, bright band close to shore where sunlight reaches the bottom. Reeds, water lilies and rooted plants grow thickly here, making it the busiest, most crowded part of the whole lake.
Who lives here