Country Living recently published a list of the 45 most beautiful places in America, choosing the prettiest places from different categories. When it comes to lakes, the Great Lakes typically take the cake in notoriety. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior are all mighty and stunning lakes, to be sure, but there’s a lake in Northern California that tops them all. Lake Tahoe is one of the most magnificent sights in the country, and its beauty is completely unmatched by any other lake.
Lake Tahoe straddles the state line of California and Nevada and is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lake and mountains combine to make such a beautiful view.
Deb Etheredge/Flickr
The water in Lake Tahoe is particularly clear. In some areas, you can see down an incredible 70 feet.
Matthew Peoples/Flickr The water is so clear because much of the precipitation in the area falls directly into the lake. Also, nearby meadows and marshes act as filtration systems. Due to development around the lake, the clarity is decreasing at a rate of about one foot per year.
Lake Tahoe is the second-deepest lake in the United States, and it’s the sixth-largest lake in the country by volume (the Great Lakes are larger).
Carandoom/Flickr
For a lake this size, there’s actually only one island in all of Lake Tahoe, and it’s called Little Fannette Island.
Jonathan Yu/Flickr Little Fannette Island has a population of zero and only contains the ruins of a single building.
The lake was formed approximately two million years ago.
Jonathan Cook-Fisher/Flickr The last century saw quite a bit of development in the area, but thankfully the trend now is towards keeping the region surrounding Lake Tahoe in a natural state.
It’s easy to see why this is such a popular travel destination: it’s incredibly stunning.
California State Parks/Flickr
Check out the entire list of Country Living’s most beautiful places in the United States.
Country Living recently published a list of the 45 most beautiful places in America, choosing the prettiest places from different categories. When it comes to lakes, the Great Lakes typically take the cake in notoriety. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior are all mighty and stunning lakes, to be sure, but there’s a lake in Northern California that tops them all. Lake Tahoe is one of the most magnificent sights in the country, and its beauty is completely unmatched by any other lake.
Deb Etheredge/Flickr
Matthew Peoples/Flickr
The water is so clear because much of the precipitation in the area falls directly into the lake. Also, nearby meadows and marshes act as filtration systems. Due to development around the lake, the clarity is decreasing at a rate of about one foot per year.
Carandoom/Flickr
Jonathan Yu/Flickr
Little Fannette Island has a population of zero and only contains the ruins of a single building.
Jonathan Cook-Fisher/Flickr
The last century saw quite a bit of development in the area, but thankfully the trend now is towards keeping the region surrounding Lake Tahoe in a natural state.
California State Parks/Flickr
Does Lake Tahoe top your list of the most beautiful lakes in the country? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Address: Lake Tahoe, United States
