Lake Tahoe Mountain Biking

If you are planning a vacation to beautiful Lake Tahoe, you will not be short of activities to keep you occupied. Although the lake is an extremely popular water sports venue, there are also plenty of other sports to try out. During the winter months, skiing is the main attraction, but if you decide to visit Lake Tahoe during the summer months, biking is a popular activity.

Biking is very big in Lake Tahoe—and not just for tourists. There are lots of biking related events that take place during the summer months. The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition even has a page on Facebook if you want to become a fan.

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There are many bike shops located around Lake Tahoe and bike hire is available from all of them. You can also buy bike spares as well as have your own bike fixed or serviced as necessary. Some of the bike rental places offer off-road guided tours and adventure camps for the more serious enthusiast. These are a great way of experiencing the best mountain biking Lake Tahoe has to offer.

There are lots of mountain bike trails around Lake Tahoe, the vast majority of which are only officially open between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. The accepted mountain biking season runs from July through to November. The rest of the year, the paths are considered unusable due to extremes of weather and if you do decide to go mountain biking out of season, it is entirely at your own risk. The Tahoe City Public Utility District and Caltrans maintain the paths during the summer months.

Although there are lots of paved and graveled trails around the lower levels and lake areas, if you want to try some hard-core mountain biking, you need to head on up into the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Kirkwood Mountain Bike Park is accessible via lift at the Kirkwood Adventure Centre, where you can purchase tickets for the chairlift, pick up a trail map, and rent a bike. There is a network of around 16 trails which wary from beginner level, right through to daring advanced levels.

The Northstar Resort also has a Mountain Bike Park, plus the Mountain Adventure Shop which offers bike rentals, sells clothing and accessories, provides maps and guided tours, plus some minor bike maintenance. There are more than 100 miles of trails where you can build up a respectable sweat as you climb to an altitude of 7000+ feet and your quads are screaming for mercy.

The Tahoe Rim trail loop is considered one of the world’s premier biking/hiking trails. At 165 miles, it is not an easy ride, but it can be tackled in sections.

While mountain biking is certainly popular, road biking should not be forgotten. There are plenty of routes and the 72 mile loop around the lake contains enough hill climbs to test the toughest of cyclists. However, all the heart attack-inducing climbs, including the Mountain Rose Summit, will eventually reward you with some stunning views in compensation for all of the hard work.