I hit up south Lake Tahoe this past weekend for some great hiking and R&R and was super happy I went. Right now is a great time to go since it’s right after the ski season has ended but before the summer crowd takes over the town (waay cheaper + less crowded).

A few fun things to make sure to check out if you’re there:

Hiking! The area has some of the most amazing views I’ve seen since I’ve been in Cali. Make sure you bring lots of water if you’re not used to the altitude change— (Lake Tahoe hiking is about 7,000 feet above sea level depending on where you hike) it’ll help with the adjustment.

Vikingsholm Trail: This is a good way to ease into Tahoe hiking. About a mile down to a really cool replica of a Viking castle on the shore of the lake. Coming back up is a little more strenuous.

Food! We had a kitchen and cooked most of the time, but the Wide Awake Organic Cafe was amazing and well worth spending a little extra $$ on. We ate here twice and I was psyched to learn that everything except the bagels are organic (soon they’ll be switching to vegan + organic bagels). My favorite here was the asparagus frittata. Their fair trade organic lattes were also amazing enough to end my caffeine-free stint!

I had heard about Elevation 6310, but didn’t have a chance to check it out just over the Nevada border. Their specialty is late dinner and organic cocktails. Mmmm… organic fruit-infusion vodkas!

Biking: there seemed to be some really great bike trails in the area which I’m looking forward to checking out the next time we visit. Bike trails amidst amazing views of the lake + forest sounds good to me!