Lake Tahoe is the kind of lake that makes people go quiet when they see it for the first time. The color does that. So does the scale, which is hard to take in from the shore. Here are nine numbers that help, all from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
1. 1,645 feet deep
Lake Tahoe’s deepest point is 1,645 feet, making it the second deepest lake in the United States after Crater Lake.
2. About 1,000 feet on average
Even the average depth is about 1,000 feet. Most lakes never get that deep at their deepest point.
3. 6,225 feet up
The lake’s surface sits at an average elevation of 6,225 feet. The highest peak in the basin, Freel Peak, tops out at 10,891.
4. 22 miles long, 12 miles wide
The widest point runs from Tahoe City across to the east shore.
5. About 75 miles of shoreline
The exact figure moves with the lake level, which is part of what makes a shoreline map a snapshot in time.
6. About 39 trillion gallons
Give or take. It is a lot of water to hold in a mountain basin.
7. 63 streams in, one river out
Sixty-three streams flow into the lake, the Upper Truckee River the largest. Only one flows out: the Truckee River, which leaves at Tahoe City and ends at Pyramid Lake, Nevada.
8. About 600 years to refill
If you drained Lake Tahoe, it would take roughly six centuries to fill back up.
9. 3 to 4 million years in the making
The basin formed through faulting, volcanic activity and glaciation over roughly three to four million years.
A bonus number
Lake Tahoe loses about half a billion gallons of water to evaporation every day, according to UC Davis. That is enough to meet the daily needs of about 5 million Americans.
A lake this deep looks different in wood than almost anywhere else: the shelf is narrow, then the bottom simply falls away.
Tahoe for the wall and the table
- Lake Tahoe 3D wood map: 12 × 16 for $99, 16 × 20 for $149, 24.5 × 31 for $258
- Lake Tahoe UV-printed wood map: $188
- Lake Tahoe cribbage board: $74
- Lake Tahoe serving tray: $149
Keep reading: The 4 Deepest Lakes in the United States · Crater Lake: How America's Deepest Lake Was Made · What Is a Bathymetric Map?
Source: UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, “Tahoe Facts and Trivia.”