We drove 281 miles from Pinnacle National Park northeast across the state to arrive in Lake Tahoe.  The scenery was truly magnificent on the way to the park and all around the Lake Tahoe area.

We drove  nine miles on Rt. 89 from the campground to Emerald Bay State Park.  The Park features include Eagle Falls and Vikingsholm, as well as the beautiful Emerald Beach. At the parking lot there was a sign that read, “Vikingsholm can be reached by parking in the Vikingshom parking lot by Highway 89 at Emerald Bay.  Access to lower Vikingsholm is via a steep one mile trail that drops 500 feet in elevation to the house.   WARNING:  Visitors with medical conditions or mobility issues should not attempt this hike.  THERE ARE NO RIDES OUT.” 

We choose to take the hike down and are so glad we did.

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View from the overlook of Emerald Beach

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Drew and Ben couldn’t resist the temptation of walking into the 60 degree lake.

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Tom was feeling the temperature of the water, but had no intention of taking a dip.

Vikingsholm

Vikingsholm is a 38-room mansion on the shore of Emerald Bay and on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1929. One of the interesting architectural designs is the sod roof which covers both the north and south wings of the complex.

Two hundred workers were brought to Emerald Bay and started hand hewing the timbers, carving the intricate designs, hand planing the wood for the interior walls, and forging the hinges and latches. Most of the materials to construct the home came from the Tahoe Basin.

Trees were cut for their size and lack of knots, and the granite for the foundation and walls was quarried from behind the house. The ideas for the construction came from buildings dating as far back as the 11th century. Some sections of the home contain no nails, pegs, or spikes.

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Eagle Falls

   We hiked to the base of Eagle Falls and part of the way up the path beside the falls.  The picture below was an aerial view of the falls.  We were never able to get close enough to see this much of the falls at one time. 

Aerial view of Eagle Falls

Aerial view of Eagle Falls

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The hike down and back was very pretty and a total of 2.65 miles

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A cute little sighting along the way

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A beautiful drive on the way home

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Chair made of ski located in downtown Lake Tahoe

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Tom and Ben at the Nevada state line which was right before the Harrah’s casino 

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Billboard hanging near the ski lift downtown .  Too much cuteness not to share.

Pinnacles to Lake Tahoe

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The campground is filled with very tall trees and the campers are parked in between the trees. Our motorhomes were easy enough to get into our spot, but Ed did a magnificent job or parking his fifth wheeler in the space they had.

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This is not one of our campers, but check out the tree located right between the two slide outs!

Trip Statistics

  • Total trip distance driven in motorhome:  2,279. Miles driven in car 562. Total miles driven 3,119
  • We’ve spent $1,200 on Gas and the latest cost was $3.799 per gallon
  • Tahoe Valley Campground was 67.25 per night.  Campground total so far:  $578
  • Groceries and eating out:  $436 or an average of $25.65 per day