Emerald Bay State Park

A glacier-carved Sierra inlet featuring the historic Vikingsholm mansion, Lake Tahoe's only island, and California's first underwater state park.

Emerald Bay State Park protects one of the most geologically and historically significant inlets on Lake Tahoe, known traditionally to the Washoe people as Tzatlee tosh. This 1,533-acre state park, established in 1953, centers on a glacier-carved granite basin that was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1969. The bay itself spans about 1.7 miles in length and two-thirds of a mile in width, defined by its remarkably shallow, sandy bottom that scatters sunlight to produce a brilliant blue-green color. In 1994, the park's boundaries were expanded to include the surrounding waters, creating one of California's first underwater state parks. This submerged preserve protects the Maritime Heritage Underwater Trail, where scuba divers can explore a collection of scuttled historic barges, launches, and recreational watercraft from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that rest in the cold depths of the bay.

At the head of the bay stands Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion completed in 1929 that is widely recognized as one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the Western Hemisphere. The wealthy philanthropist Lora Josephine Knight purchased the 240-acre property in 1928 and commissioned her relative by marriage, Swedish architect Lennart Palme, to design a summer home inspired by ancient Norse fortresses and churches. The resulting structure features hand-hewn timbers, intricate carvings, dragon-headed beams, and a living sod roof over its wings. To furnish the home, Knight traveled to Scandinavia to purchase authentic antiques and commission exact replicas, even replicating the natural wear and scratches of the original pieces. Just offshore sits Fannette Island, the only island in Lake Tahoe, which rises 150 feet above the water. On its rocky summit, Knight constructed a stone Tea House in 1929, using local granite to match the island's natural contours, providing a private retreat where she frequently entertained summer guests.

Before Knight's tenure, the island was home to Captain Dick Barter, an eccentric English sailor who lived as the "Hermit of Emerald Bay" from 1863 to 1873. Barter built a tiny cabin, a chapel, and his own tomb on the island, though he was ultimately lost in a storm near Rubicon Point and never interred there. Today, visitors can access the shoreline and Vikingsholm by hiking down the Vikingsholm Trail, a steep path that descends 500 feet over the course of one mile from the Harvey West parking lot on Highway 89. From the beach, adventurers can rent kayaks or stand-up paddleboards to paddle out to Fannette Island or explore the shoreline where Eagle Falls cascades down from the granite cliffs of the Desolation Wilderness. The park also serves as a hub for hikers, with the lakeside Rubicon Trail tracing the northern shore toward D.L. Bliss State Park, and the Eagle Point and Boat-In campgrounds offering overnight stays along the forested fringes.