It has small roads, small campsites and small parking pads. hike the Rubicon Trail, Lighthouse Trail, and Balancing Rock Trailīuy Eat Drink Sleep.go to the beach at Lester Beach or Calawee Cove.It is 17 mi (27 km) south of Tahoe City on Highway 89, a couple of miles north of Emerald Bay.įees and permits Get around See Do Winter: high of 40 ☏ (4 ☌) to lows in the teens and 20s, and may dip 0 ☏ (−18 ☌).Summer: 75–80 ☏ (24–27 ☌) during the day to the low 40s at night.It has since grown to 2,149 acres (870 ha). The park is named in honor of timber and railroad magnate Duane Leroy Bliss, whose heirs donated 744 acres (301 ha) of land to the state in 1929. A popular trail in the lakeside forest features a large balancing rock. You will not be disappointed by this wonderful state park.Notable features include Rubicon Point Light, the highest-elevation lighthouse in the United States. Even though it’s popular and receives heavy usage, plan your arrival early in the morning to beat the crowds or around midday when many earlier visitors have left. Sadly, we left the park with many trails remaining unexplored and with a desire to return in the near future. At some point nature’s forces will cause the rock to lose its balance and join many other rocks in the creek at the bottom of the hill. Though not really balancing, the huge boulder, which has been created by erosion, provides a unique spectacle on the short loop trail that winds behind the rock. Instead, we headed to the Balancing Rock Nature Trail in another area of the park.
#Dl bliss state park full
We chose to return to the car rather than hiking the full length of the trail, which would have taken us all the way to the historic Vikingsholm mansion on Emerald Bay. The lighthouse has received restoration and is an interesting historic site. While it resembles an old outhouse rather than the classic image of a lighthouse, it helped travelers be safe until 1921 when a new light was built on Sugar Pine Point. The lighthouse is located 1.5 miles from the parking lot and has stood on the brow of the cliff 1919. Our goal was to get to the Rubicon Lighthouse, which was the highest elevation lighthouse on a navigable body of water in the world. The trail climbed the cliffs at the lake’s edge and provided some wonderful views of the entire lake. Turns out that even though the park had been full, many people had finished with their morning visit and there was space in all of the parking lots throughout the park.Īfter parking at Lester Beach right next to the water, we headed out on the Rubicon Hiking Trail. Not knowing if we would even be able to get in, we stopped at the first entrance kiosk and had a delightful conversation with the summer intern working for the state park system. We arrived at the park midmorning on a summer weekday and saw that it was already busy. Located just 10 miles north of the intersection of Highways 50 and 89 in South Lake Tahoe, it offers hiking, beaches, camping and beautiful views of the lake. Bliss State Park on the west shore of Lake Tahoe is one of those places I have wanted to visit but always avoided because of its popularity. However, this year I have decided to visit some places that are new to me even though they are quite well known and frequented by others.ĭ.L. My travels tend to take me to the high country and away from more populated areas.