How Wide Is Lake Tahoe?

Lake Tahoe is a beautiful alpine lake in California and Nevada. The lake is an incredible 6,225 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Lake Tahoe is known for its large size and stunning deep blue color. Its clearness and blue color come from a lack of particulates and lack of algae. Lake Tahoe is a popular area for recreation, and people come from all over California and the United States to visit it. Swimming, boating, and fishing are all popular forms of recreation at the lake. The surrounding area also has many skiing and hiking opportunities. Additionally, Lake Tahoe’s massive size makes it a great place for marathon swimming. Some people have even swam the entire length or width of the lake! How wide is Lake Tahoe? This article explores Lake Tahoe’s length, width, and how long it can take to swim across.

Lake Tahoe’s name comes from the Washo word “Dáʔaw” meaning “the lake.” Washoe people are native to the area around Lake Tahoe.

How Wide is Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is shaped like an oval. It is longer from North to South and narrower from East to West. To understand how wide Lake Tahoe is, let’s first explore how lakes are measured. The length of a lake is the longest possible straight line from shore to shore. This line can be in any direction. The width of a lake is the longest possible straight line that is at a right angle to its length line. Therefore, the length of a lake is always longer than its width.

So, how wide is Lake Tahoe? Lake Tahoe is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. The surface area of Lake Tahoe is 191 square miles.

Lake Tahoe Size Compared to Other Large Lakes

Lake Tahoe boasts an incredible size. It is the second-deepest lake in the United States. Due to its depth, Lake Tahoe is the sixth-largest lake by volume in the United States. It is behind only the five Great Lakes. However, Lake Tahoe is only the 31st-largest lake in the U.S. by surface area. These different rankings are due to the fact that Lake Tahoe is incredibly deep but not especially long. However, Lake Tahoe is still an impressive size, and it is the largest alpine lake in the United States. It is also one of the highest-elevation lakes in the United States.

How does Lake Tahoe compare in size to other large lakes in the United States? The five Great Lakes are the largest lakes in the U.S. by both area and volume. Let’s see how Lake Tahoe compares to the Great Lakes. Below are two tables that compare Lake Tahoe to the Great Lakes. The first table compares the maximum length, maximum width, and area of each lake. The second table compares the volume of each lake.

Largest Lakes in The U.S. by Surface Area

Largest Lakes in the U.S. by Volume

How Long Would It Take to Swim Across Lake Tahoe?

Even though it is smaller than the Great Lakes, Lake Tahoe is still an impressively large lake. Amazingly, some people have actually swum across it! Let’s explore how long it would take to swim across Lake Tahoe at an average speed. The average person swims 2 miles per hour. That means it would take six hours to swim across the 12-mile width of Lake Tahoe. What’s more, it would take a whopping 11 hours to swim across the 22-mile length of Lake Tahoe!

People have successfully swum across both the length and width of Lake Tahoe. The first man to swim across the length of Lake Tahoe was Fred Rogers in 1955. It took him a total of 19 hours and 6 minutes. The first woman to do so was Leonore Modell in 1963. It took her a total of 13 hours and 34 minutes. It took each of these swimmers longer than 11 hours because they had to take breaks. However, in 2017 a man named Michael Rice set the record for the fastest swim across the length of Lake Tahoe. His time was 8 hours and 36 minutes. That’s even faster than someone swimming at average speed!