Welcome to Sand Harbor
(elevation 6241')
Nevada State Historical Marker No. 221
The largest alpine lake in North America, Lake Tahoe is a cobalt blue lake atop the Sierra Nevada mountain range. On its eastern shores, gently sloping beaches, crystal-clear water and interesting rock formations allow for wonderfully sublime swimming, kayaking and scuba diving at Sand Harbor. Boaters, water-skiers and fisherman can easily launch from one of the park’s two ramps. Visitors who would like a peaceful retreat from surf and sun can picnic in the shade of cedars and Jeffrey pines in one of many picnic sites equipped with barbecues and tables. The park also hosts the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival every summer.
Sand Harbor History
(Credit to NV State Parks for their wonderful "History of Nevada State Parks")
The resources of Tahoe's east shore were prized by Native Americans long before European Americans made their discovery of the lake in 1846. The Washoe Tribe spent countless summers at Sand Harbor fishing, hunting and gathering.
By the 1870s, lumber baron Walter Scott Hobart had established operations for the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company at Sand Harbor. Trees logged around the lake were towed into the harbor behind the Steamship Niagara and then sent by rail to the company sawmill in Incline. From there, milled lumber and cordwood was taken to the Comstock Mining District by the ingenious Great Incline Tramway of 1880, and an intricate system of V-flumes.
Following the death of his father in 1892, Walter Scott Hobart Jr. inherited his family's wealth and land holdings. He exhausted much of his acquired fortune on a lavish summer resort along the shores of Sand Harbor and entertained the social elite aboard his yacht, the Quic Chakidn. In the early 1920s, Hobart leased the master cottage at Sand Harbor to Frank W. Fuller, Vice President of the W.P. Fuller & Company paint firm. His son, Frank Jr., and family continued to enjoy summers at the harbor until 1966. Fuller Jr. had a passion for flying and moored his Gruman Goose seaplane, and later his Gruman Mallard seaplane, on the shores of Sand Harbor. Boaters enjoyed the spectacle of watching Fuller's planes lift gracefully out of the water and rise above the lake.
Born to one of San Francisco's wealthiest families, George Whittell Jr. lived off the millions inherited from his parents. He avoided the 1929 stock market crisis (and some believe contributed to it), by liquidating $50 million in stock holdings just months before the crash. George moved his fortune to Nevada, and during the early 1930s, he purchased most of the east side of Lake Tahoe. His land holdings included Sand Harbor (purchased from Hobart Jr.), where he planned to build a casino. Between 1936 and 1939, Whittell focused on the construction of his own magnificent summer estate, the Thunderbird Lodge. This also became home to his famous yacht, Thunderbird, and a variety of big game animals. The historic estate is visible to the south of Sand Harbor, and beach visitors can still catch a glimpse of the Thunderbird yacht cruising by on warm summer evenings.
As the years passed, George grew more reclusive, gradually abandoning his development plans for Tahoe's east shore in favor of maintaining his own private hideaway. During the 1950s, the State of Nevada began negotiations with Whittell to purchase land along the east shore of Lake Tahoe for a state park. In 1958, Whittell reluctantly agreed to lease a portion of Sand Harbor beach to the State of Nevada for public use. A decade later, judicial action forced him to sell 5,300 acres which became the foundation for Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park. Grand opening ceremonies were held in 1971, and now, early in the 21st century, more than one million visitors enjoy the park annually.
Getting to the State Historical Marker
The marker itself is positioned inside the fee-area of Sand Harbor State Park, but not near the Visitors' Center, which would maybe make more sense. Instead, it is over by the Boat Ramp in the parking lot facing the ramp and docks... though that IS a convenient location if you still need to snag a selfie for the 2003 Sand Harbor Virtual Cache. Sand Harbor is open year-round, but that also means that Nevada State Parks collect fees for access year-round too. If you're going to make a day of it (and spending some time there is absolutely worth it) it will cost you currently (2023) $15/car... or $10/car if you have Nevada plates. Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Sand Harbor hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to one hour after sunset. There is no temporary parking along Highway 28 next to the park... and several signs advising that Drop-Offs and Walk-Ins are NOT allowed. However... you CAN walk in at the BOat Launch entrance to the park. Granted, the closest public parking is to the north at Memorial Point, which make for a lovely little .6 mile walk along the lakefront pathway to the Boat Launch park entrance... where you can walk in for a fee of $2 per person. You can see the marker from the entrance there and decide what to do next.
Marker Text:
History records Sand Harbor as playing an important role in the operations of the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company, one of three large companies supplying lumber and cordwood to the Comstock mines during the late 19th century. Walter Scott Hobart organized the company, and John Bear Overton was its general manager.
The steamer “Niagara” towed log rafts from company land at the south end of Lake Tahoe to Sand Harbor. Here the logs were loaded on narrow-guage railway cars and taken two miles north to a sawmill on Mill Creek.
Lumber and cordwood were started on the way to Virginia City via an incline tramway 4,000 feet long, and rising 1,400 feet up the mountainside where the material was transferred to water flumes and transported to Lakeview just north of Carson City.
The tramway has been described as “The Great Incline of the Sierra Nevada”.
You can visit the State Historical Marker commemorating the Great Incline of the Sierra Nevada just up the road by Tunnel Creek and grab yourself another cache find at SHM #246!
Please use stealth when finding this cache and return it carefully and well-hidden.