Lake Tahoe’s beaches are packed – and the smallest they’ve been in years

Anyone planning to spend the Fourth of July holiday soaking up the sun at Lake Tahoe might want to bring a smaller beach towel.

With the drought over and melting snowpack filling the lake nearly to the brim, beach space is as cramped as it’s been in years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Lake Tahoe’s most popular beach, Sand Harbor, has had a full parking lot and some 3,000-plus visitors every day the past two weeks as the area is in the midst of its busy season.

“More than two thirds of our beach space has gone under water,” Jay Howard, the supervisor for Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, told the Chronicle. “People are kind of shoulder-to-shoulder crammed onto the beaches like sardines. When you look down the beach about midday, you'll see nothing but umbrellas.”

As happy as Californians are that it’s over, the drought’s peak would expose extra space at many beaches, including up to 200 extra feet of beach at Sand Harbor, according to the Chronicle.

Kelly Benson, a North Lake Tahoe visitor’s bureau spokesperson, encouraged people to use spend less time in the sand and more time boating and paddle boarding.

If none of that suits you, Lake Tahoe has other attractions that won’t leave sand in your toes.

The Tahoe Daily Tribune’s Ryan Hoffman published a piece Saturday advocating three options for horseback riding in the region, and ski resort Squaw Valley will stay open through July 4 for the first time in its history, resort ownership announced in May.

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Lake Tahoe’s beaches are packed – and the smallest they’ve been in years."