Lake Tahoe Sunrises and Sunsets

Lake Tahoe arguably has the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I have ever seen. The sky is illuminated in brilliant shades of orange, pink, and yellow and left me picking my jaw up off the ground. While it is possible to stand anywhere in Lake Tahoe and simply look up and see the sky glowing there are a few spots that give you the perfect vantage point for the colorful show. 

Emerald Bay

Located 12 miles outside of South Lake Tahoe it takes about a half an hour drive to get to Emerald Bay. There is parking near the Eagle Falls trailhead and while you can hike down the steep one mile path in the summer (not so accessible in the winter, it turns out) some of the best views are simply from the side of the road. Alex and I arrived about 45 minutes before sunrise in order to capture all the different changes in light. The first picture in this post was taken only 20 minutes after the below image. It is easy to take many pictures from this spot as every second the light changes, more pink, more orange, the clouds move! It's hard not to walk away with hundreds of pictures!

Sand Harbor

Our favorite sunset spot was Sand Harbor, which is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tahoe. It requires a $7 entrance fee and the facilities close at 5pm in the winter. The park has 55 acres of beaches that offer the most stunning viewpoints of Lake Tahoe and the setting sun. I have never seen a sky get as pink as it did on our last night in Tahoe. When I went to edit my photos I had to resist the urge to de-saturate the images because I didn't want people to think I cranked up the saturation on them!