Fallen Leaf Lake - Lake Tahoe Basin

We have a new favorite place to go when we head up the mountain towards Tahoe. It's beautiful, easy to get to, and the parking is free. What more could you ask for?!

Our first visit to Fallen Leaf Lake was actually because our first attempt to visit Eagle Lake failed. And while I'm so glad we persevered and got ourselves up to Eagle Lake, I am even more glad that we found our new favorite place in the process!

Fallen Leaf Lake is directly south of Lake Tahoe on Fallen Leaf Road. It's near the Taylor Creek Visitor Center, which is also an excellent place to stop with kids. Fallen Leaf can be accessed a couple of different ways. I'll describe the two we've used, though we want to go back and spend some more time exploring this little gem. 

Our first visit here we decided to hike in. We chose to drive right past the campground/day-use area and just past that we found a nice place to pull off the road and jump on the trail to the lake. This was a short easy hike with kids, though not quite stroller friendly. The main trail head is located at a wide spot in the road just past the camp ground. You can actually find it on Google Earth here and do a virtual hike of the trail if you want to check it out before you go.  We drove a little farther up the road to another (smaller) parking pull-out and hiked in on a less-used trail. It's not real well marked, but if you're watching for it you'll see it. 

The trail took us through a pretty meadow with lots of wildflowers, then through some trees and over a rise to the lake. 

Just as beautiful as Tahoe, this little lake is especially fun because it get so much less traffic. You can hike in without bumping into anyone else, stake out your own spot on the shore line, and enjoy the view. The beaches (at least on the north side where we've visited) are made up of small pebbles, which have the most amazing colors and patterns on them. We spent a lot of time just looking at all the pretty rocks (but then again, we're nerds...).

The water didn't get too deep too quickly, so we were comfortable letting our kids wade in without having to worry too much.

A few notes about Fallen Leaf. There are no life guards and no amenities. There is running water and a pretty nice bathroom in the campground, just down the road from the visitor parking. This means you're looking at a walk of several minutes at least from the lake to the facilities, so plan accordingly.

One of the rougher stretches of the trail (which, as you can see, is really not at all bad) on the hike back to the car. 

The next time we visited Fallen Leaf we decided to park in the Day Use area, which is a much shorter walk to the lake (though still a little bit of a walk and not handicap accessible). There was more of the amazing technicolor pebble beaches, and lots of room to play in the water. I got pinned under a sleeping toddler, but my husband and kids explored around the Northwest shore of the lake and tell me there are some excellent swimming spots that direction.
We also saw small sail boats out on the lake, so I know there must be better access to the water somewhere, we just have to get out there and find it. For now though we'd be happy to hike in on the trial every time just to get to spend a few hours here.

Essential Details:
Fallen Leaf Lake
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Website for Camp Ground