Las Vegas Sun

April 23, 2024

Tahoe Parking Restricted This Summer

Starting Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service says people can park along Nevada's State Route 28 and hike west to the beaches - but not east into mountains between Spooner Junction and Marlette Lake.

From mid-August to mid-October, a parking ban will be in effect six days a week - Sundays excluded - along most of the highway linking the Spooner Junction area with Incline Village to the north.

Also from mid-August to mid-October, national forest shoreline from Dead Man's Point to Chimney Beach will be closed except for Sundays, according to Forest Service spokeswoman Linda Massey. That stretch is very popular and visited by thousands of people each summer.

The restrictions are required because of hazards created by helicopters being used to clear dead and dying trees from several thousand acres of land, Massey added.

Besides the logging-related closures, the Nevada Transportation Department plans major roadwork along the highway. That will require nighttime road closures throughout the summer and a full closure after Labor Day for two to three weeks.

Work includes repaving the highway from Incline Village to Spooner and installing drain improvements between Incline and the Sand Harbor area.

Improving conditions along the highway is one of the California-Nevada Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's priorities. Lack of adequate drainage, roadside parking and visitors eroding soil by hiking downhill to the lake all contribute to Tahoe's clarity problems, TRPA Executive Director Jim Baetge says.

The bistate TRPA is considering a plan that would ban all roadside parking and funnel traffic to new developed parking areas served by shuttle buses.

The various plans will be discussed at community meetings scheduled Thursday in Incline Village, May 8 in Reno and May 13 in Round Hill. A Carson City session also is planned but no date has been set yet.

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