Incline Village Area Guide

WELCOME TO OUR HOME

Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful, exciting, and active vacation destinations in the world. To make sure you have all of the information to get started on your next get-a-way, or find the perfect residence, we have compiled the following information about the region we call home today.

The Community of Incline Village, Nevada

As a property owner in Incline Village, or visitor to our pristine community on Lake Tahoe’s north shore, there are endless reasons to stay and play year round

Within our six-mile community, you’re welcome to enjoy all of the recreation that is owned by the residents and operated by the Incline Village General Improvement District.

For a quick overview, visit our recreational assets and utility services here:

Diamond Peak Ski Resort
Incline Village Championship Golf Courses
Incline Village Parks & Recreation
Incline Village Weddings and Event Facilities
Incline Village Public Works & Utilities

A REASON FOR EVERY SEASON

No matter what the season, there’s always a reason to get out of house and enjoy some of the best that life can offer throughout the scenic High Sierra.

In winter and spring, over 18 ski resorts claim the fame as ‘the largest concentration of ski resorts in the United States’ complimented with cross-country ski resorts, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice climbing, ice skating and good-old-fashioned sledding on endless hills and trails.

Come summertime and time when the trees turn in the fall, it’s an outdoor adventurer’s dream with over 40 championship golf courses, hiking, paddle boarding, biking, fishing, camping, horseback riding, rock climbing, mountaineering, boating, sailing, kayaking, diving, water skiing, rafting, windsurfing and so much more…

Physical Environment

Lake Tahoe is located on the California/Nevada border, 198 miles northeast of San Francisco, 98 miles east of Sacramento and 58 miles southwest of Reno, Nevada. The Lake Tahoe Basin, that area defined along the crest of the Sierra Nevada and the Carson Range, covers 482 square miles.

Lake Environment

Tahoe’s waters are among the purest in the world at 99.7% pure. A white dinner plate can be seen 120 feet below the surface with little trouble. The Lake never freezes over due to the constant movement of water from the bottom to the surface. This “turnover” allows an enormous mass movement of water, and keeps the lake ice free. However, ice may form at times along the shoreline in small protected inlets. During the summer, the upper 12 feet forms a layer that can warm to 68 degrees F., but below depths of 700 feet during the winter the temperature remains a constant 39 degrees F.

The surface elevation varies between 6,223’ and 6,229’ depending on the snow pack and how much water is released through the Truckee River. The highest peak on the Lake’s shoreline is Mount Tallac at 9,725’, while the highest peak in the Basin is Freel Peak at 10,881’. The lake itself is the highest lake of its size in the United States.

Lake Tahoe contains an estimated 122,160,280 acre feet of water, enough to cover the entire state of California to a depth of 14 inches or Texas to a depth of 8 ½ inches! On an average, 1.4 million tons of water evaporates from the surface of Lake Tahoe every 24 hours, yet the lake level drops only one tenth of an inch. The water which evaporates each day is enough to supply the needs of 3.5 million people per day. The total evaporation averages more per day than the water released through the Truckee Dam outlet.

Climate

The sunshine probability for the Basin is 84%, with at least 300 days of sun per year. Lake Tahoe gets an average of 215.4 inches of snowfall, or a little under 18 feet. Upper elevations can get between 300 and 500 inches per year. Winds are generally mild, 10-15 mph, out of the west and northwest. During storm periods they can average 25-35 mph. Sweaters and jackets are almost always necessary in the evenings. Winter means heavy jackets and warm boots and clothes, while summer days can be spent in shorts and t-shirts.

These mild temperatures and the lake’s crystal clear waters encourage outdoor enthusiasts to sample Lake Tahoe’s many recreational activities: golfing, hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, camping, sailing, biking and horseback riding. And in the winter, Lake Tahoe proves its reputation as one of the world’s finest year-round playgrounds with America’s highest concentration of ski resorts, including Squaw Valley/USA, host of the 1960 winter Olympics, Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar are but a few of the 18 downhill and cross country ski areas.

Population

In 1950 there were 2,500 permanent residents in the Lake Tahoe Basin. By 2012 that number had risen to 62,042 with 21,495 in Nevada. Some of the larger communities in Tahoe’s High Sierra include:

South Lake Tahoe
Incline Village
Tahoe City
Zephyr Cove

Elevation

The Tahoe Basin is at an elevation of 6,240 feet (1,901 meters) above mean sea level. On the west side of the Lake, the Sierra rises from elevations of 9,000 feet (2,743 meters) to 11,000 feet (3,352 meters) and to the east, mountains reach 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) to 7,000 feet (2,133 meters)