The Reno River Festival starts today with registration and preparation for the main events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The festival keeps getting better every year with a visitor-expo, great concessions and a rockin’ good time in the Northern Nevada Sun. This year the festival is introducing some new events like the Run Amuck race, whitewater clinics and more. Check out the festival Web site here, and watch a video interview with organizer Jim Litchfield (produced by the Tahoe World newspaper).
We live here, so we know it. And if you’ve visited here, you know it. But now the world knows it.
TripAdvisor, one of the Web’s most popular user-controlled travel sites, has ranked Lake Tahoe as the top vacation destination in the United States based on its annual “Traveler’s Choice” survey. Lake Tahoe beat out popular travel destinations like San Francisco, Hawaii and New York City, according to the survey. Our little corner of the world also ranked number 10 in worldwide destinations. Here’s the breakdown:
Top 10 U.S. destinations: 1. Lake Tahoe, California
2. Big Sur, California
3. San Francisco, California
4. Poipu, Hawaii
5. Sedona, Arizona
6. New Orleans, Louisiana
7. Carmel, California
8. Napa, California
9. Lahaina, Hawaii
10. La Jolla, Californi
Top 10 destinations worldwide:
1. Milford Sound, New Zealand
2. Queenstown, New Zealand
3. Philipsburg, St. Martin/St. Maarten
4. Cayo Largo, Cuba
5. Rhodes, Greece
6. Charlotte Amelie, USVI
7. Cruz Bay, USVI
8. Bridgetown, Barbados
9. Banff, Canada 10. Lake Tahoe, U.S.
For a complete list of top U.S. and worldwide destinations in pdf format, click here. To plan your Lake Tahoe vacation, click here.
Downtown Reno is in the midst of an urban renaissance that includes public works projects like the Truckee River Whitewater Park, renovation of the Reno Post Office into a retail plaza, and construction of a train trench cover that will create a pedestrian center.
Downtown Makeover, a local blog about all things downtown, chronicles many of the projects with artists renderings and interviews with the principals involved in the developments. Check it out, and get a peak into the changing face of downtown Reno.
Is Reno-Tahoe a good fit for a winter Olympics games?
A recent poll conducted by organizers of an effort to bring a Winter Olympics to Reno-Tahoe shows a majority of local residents supports the idea, according to a story in the Reno Gazette-Journal.
A majority of respondents (51 percent) said the “strongy support” the idea, organizers said.
The Sierra Nevada has previously played host to the Winter Olympics when the games were held at Squaw Valley in 1960. Since then, the area has seen an explosion of population, event venues, hotels and other visitor amenities. Because of consistent weather, world-class ski resorts and high-altitude training opportunities, many Olympic-caliber athletes call Reno-Tahoe home.
What do you think about the potential for a Winter Olympics in Reno-Tahoe?
Locals refer to it as the “shoulder season” in the Sierra Nevada, the time between peak winter ski tourism and summer fun on Lake Tahoe’s beaches. But here’s a local secret: Some of the best (and least expensive) skiing happens in Spring.
This year started off strong with a flurry of cold storms that brought powder days and a large snowpack for the Sierra’s dozen-or-so resorts. Now that temperatures are in the 60s at higher altitude, the deep base is paying dividends of spring corn combined with good coverage.
Come up to the mountains for a visit to Reno-Tahoe, enjoy some of the best spring conditions we’ve had in years and take advantage of shoulder season travel deals. Check out our resorts page and plan your trip before it’s too late.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to the vBlog that’s taking you around Reno and showing you where the locals go and what the locals know: that the Reno-Tahoe area is America’s Adventure Place! We’ve made some exciting updates to ERIN 411! and here’s a glimpse at what you’ll see on upcoming episodes:
Weeeee!!!!! You should be feeling really pumped!Now, the cool new changes we made to the show also caused a few delays. I know you’re out of snow season and looking forward to summer, but you’ll still enjoy this episode on Reno’s fun little Rink on the River:
Hope you enjoyed! As always, please leave us a comment and let us what you thought!ERIN 411!
The Show You Need To Know(because it’s awesome)
One of Lake Tahoe’s premier backcountry destinations, Tallac offers a strenuous 3,200-foot ascent, epic views of the Lake Tahoe basin and a thrilling descent.
Check out the Reno-Tahoe YouTube channel for other Reno-Tahoe videos.Thanks to photographer Justin Cash (who was on the hill with the editorial team from Backcountry Magazine) for throwing a couple photos our way.
We’ve recently added a bunch of pics to the Reno-Tahoe Flickr site, so check out this slide show or click through to view them online. We’re always looking for new photos that showcase the best of Reno-Tahoe, so if you have some good ones we’d love to have them as part of our photo stream.
The view from Mt. Tallac looking south toward Lake Tahoe (left) and Fallen Leaf Lake (right). Photo / Jim Scripps
With temperatures in the 60s, spring skiing and boarding is in the air in Reno-Tahoe, a good time for the hardier ski-hikers to make a backcountry trek up Mt. Tallac, one the Sierra’s most accessible routes and home to unrivaled views of Lake Tahoe and the eastern Sierra below.
Although Tallac’s approach may be tough for the “fitness-challenged” - it registers 9,735 feet, a 3,255-foot gain to the summit - it’s high vantage point and open, skiable terrain make it well worth the hike. MiketheBike and I escorted a three-man editorial team from Backcountry Magazine up Mt. Tallac on March 6 to give them a taste of spring corn and clear blue skies.
Chilly morning air gave way to warm temperatures as we started up the trailhead around 10 a.m. Mikethebike, Justin and Justin (keeping names straight was also a little tough) sported randonee skis, Mike skinned a split snowboard, and I snowshoed, carrying my snowboard on my back. While the snow started out bulletproof, by the time we reached about 7,500 feet it started to loosen up, a good time for soft turns. I was the first to bail - tired of lugging my board, I strapped it on and ripped a good long run down the canyon. The others would continue toward the summit.
The snow started to harden up by the time my fellow travelers headed down, give them a bone-jarring ride. It turns out the best time to descend was between 2-3 p.m. And regardless of the snow condition, Tallac on a clear sunny day offers one of the best views available for the backcountry enthusiast.
To get to the (winter) Tallac trailhead (map): From Lake Tahoe’s South Shore take Highway 89 toward Emerald Bay. Turn west on Spring Creek Road, the first road after the Baldwin Beach turnoff. The end of the road is the start of the trail. From the trailhead, the summit is approximately 2.2 miles. Climb time varies based on snow conditions … and be prepared for avalanche danger before attempting any backcountry ski trip.
(Check back for a video of backcountry on Tallac…)
