Nevada's East Shore: Sand Harbor State Park, the 3-Mile Tahoe East Shore Trail, Bonsai Rock & Secret Cove

While California's shores are lined with pine forests and towns, 19 kilometres of the northeastern Nevada shoreline along Highway 28 are almost 100% preserved inside Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

1. Sand Harbor State Park & Cycling the 'Tahoe East Shore Trail'

• How to Enter Sand Harbor: as explained in our travel guide, driving a personal car into the Sand Harbor lot during core daytime hours requires a pre-booked reservation from reserveamerica.com.
  • Didn't Get a Car Reservation? Drive to the southern edge of Incline Village (where three large paid parking lots sit at 1664 Highway 28 / Ponderosa Ranch Rd) and either: 1) Ride the standard fare round-trip 'East Shore Express' Shuttle Bus; OR 2) Rent a bicycle / E-Bike at Vista Trail Bikes right at the parking lot and pedal the 4.8-kilometre paved, car-free Tahoe East Shore Trail.
• What You Pass Along the 3-Mile Tahoe East Shore Trail: suspended on a 900-foot steel bridge directly over the water, the path passes 10 interpretive stops, turquoise boulder coves at Hidden Beach and Memorial Point Overlook before rolling right onto the wooden boardwalks of Sand Harbor (where you can swim at Main Beach, rent a clear-bottom kayak at Divers Cove, and attend the outdoor Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival on the sand in July and August).

2.

Continue south down Highway 28 past Sand Harbor to four more gems:

1. Thunderbird Lodge: eccentric millionaire George Whittell Jr.'s 1936 stone estate, featuring a 180-metre underground tunnel blasted through solid granite to a cliffside boathouse holding his 55-foot mahogany twin-V12-aircraft-engine yacht, the Thunderbird.
2. Chimney Beach & Secret Cove: park at the paved Chimney Beach lot on the west side of Hwy 28 and hike 15 minutes down through the pines to Chimney Beach or continue 10 minutes south along the shoreline trail to emerald-green Secret Cove .
3. Bonsai Rock: look for pull-offs along the guardrail ½ mile north of where Hwy 28 meets Hwy 50, scramble 3 minutes down the steep dirt bank, and watch sunset behind the famous submerged boulder crowned by four natural bonsai pine trees.