I spent a summer in Lake Tahoe when I was in college and I came back several years ago to ski. However, Austin has never been so I am really excited for him to see it!
We planned to be here for Fourth of July thinking it would be a great place for Austin’s brother and his girlfriend to come meet us. The virus obviously changed those plans but we are still happy to be here for the Fourth – even though they canceled fireworks.
Fallen Leaf Campground
We stayed our first night at Fallen Leaf Campground before moving to Nevada Beach. We got set up at Fallen Leaf and realized there was absolutely no cell or internet service. This wasn’t expected! The coverage maps seem like we would be fine, but even boosted we had nothing. So, we set off in the Jeep to explore. We first went to Emerald Bay to check out the views.
Fallen Leaf Lake
After Emerald Bay we headed back to the campground and took the Jeep back to Fallen Leaf Marina for ice cream. What a hidden gem!! We absolutely loved Fallen Leaf Lake and the community there. We officially have a new favorite place! The houses were incredible and right on the water.
Glen Alpine Falls
After ice cream we drove to Glen Alpine Falls. This waterfall was also super impressive. We enjoyed the views and admired the houses that have those views all of the time! We then continued driving up to Lily Lake before heading back to the campground.
Since we unexpectedly didn’t have internet we wanted to get somewhere where we could check in with work and make sure all is well. So, we left Fallen Leaf early on Friday and parked at a casino parking lot for a few hours. We worked, charged our batteries and I went to the grocery store. Check in at Nevada Beach is 2:00 so we timed it perfectly to be able to move into our spot once our errands were done.
Friends Come to Visit
When we were at a Harvest Host a couple of months ago we met another couple and enjoyed hanging out with them. Well, they drove down to meet back up with us! It was fun hanging out with them again and a great way to start the holiday weekend. After they left we made dinner then took a glass of wine down to the beach for sunset. Wouldn’t you know we saw another couple get engaged! That’s three this year! I noticed the guy on his knee so I snapped some pics and ended up texting them to the bride to be. They appreciated them for sure!!
Fourth of July
The next day was the Fourth and Austin had quite the morning. He woke up early and set out to bike around Lake Tahoe! It ended up being just over 75 miles and it took him just over five hours. Crazy!! Needless to say, he was wiped out when he got back. I set myself up at the beach and hung out while he recuperated and later joined me at the beach. The rest of the day was uneventful since there were no fireworks. We were in bed by nine!
On Sunday we had to move sites. We had a relaxing morning waiting on our new site to open up. Once it did, we moved over and got ready to go kayaking. It was so nice to get the kayak in the water and explore the lake by water. The water really is sooo blue. It’s beautiful!
Firing up the Smoker
After our kayaking adventure, we came back to our campsite and put some ribs on the smoker. Since we have been boondocking so much we haven’t been able to smoke due to fire bans. We are happy to be able to again – our freezer is getting low!! We ended up smoking ribs, sausage and a Boston Butt while here.
Fallen Leaf vs Nevada Beach
Both Fallen Leaf Campground and Nevada Beach Campgrounds are great options in the Tahoe area. Fallen Leaf is not right on Lake Tahoe and Nevada Beach is. This is why we chose to spend more time at Nevada Beach. Neither have any hookups and there are a lot of trees too which make it tough to get solar. There are some sites at Nevada Beach that look like they have good sun, but we didn’t have one of those! Given there aren’t many boondocking options and the private campgrounds are super expensive, we are happy with our decision to stay in these campgrounds. Even if they are on the expensive side for no hookups!
