At an elevation of 6,225 feet, Lake Tahoe is the highest lake of its size in the U.S. The highest point, at 10,891 feet, is Freel Peak.

With a depth of 1,645 feet, near Crystal Bay, Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. and the tenth in the world. Its average depth is 1,000 feet. The bottom of the lake is actually 92 feet below the level of Carson City, Nevada.

Tahoe covers 191 square miles of land, with 72 miles of shore. It is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. Lake Tahoe is as long as the English Channel is wide.

Its watershed covers 519 square miles. There are 63 streams and two hotsprings that feed into the lake, but only the Truckee River runs out. The lake holds 39 trillion gallons of water, while an average of 1,400,000 tons of water, or one-tenth of an inch, evaporates every day. That’s more than what runs out of the Truckee River and enough water to supply Los Angeles for a day.

The maximum surface temperature is 68 degrees, dropping to 41 degrees in winter. Since the water moves so much, it does not freeze over.

The average snowpack is 225 inches, more than four times that of Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1906-07 it snowed nearly 74 feet.

The area usually has over 300 days of sunshine during the year.

As an “interstate navigable waterway”, Lake Tahoe is patrolled by the United States Coast Guard. It is rumored to be the most desirable duty station they have.