By Laurie Brazil

Although many of us locals think we know our “lake”, there’s a lot of events and information that we could benefit from at the Explore Tahoe venue at Heavenly Village.

The Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra was enlightened at one of their early morning meetings by Lauren Thomaselli about the displays and objectives of this relatively new program.

Explore Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe has information for locals and tourists. Photo/Provided

This urban trailhead was designed to not only welcome visitors, but also educate and inspire all of us to take advantage of our beautiful environment but do so with respect and appreciation. The interactive displays and environmentally inspired artwork will impress guests and Tahoe-ites alike.

Their objective is to encourage guests to plan their visit, take advantage of our mass transit to protect our natural resources and to ensure that their visit is memorable. The staff wants to inspire patrons to take advantage of all that our South Shore has to offer and enjoy our recreation with a conscience.

The visitor and interpretive center is open year round and you are encouraged to visit www.recreationintahoe.com or call (530) 542.2908 for hours, current tours, events, and displays.

Make sure you take advantage of their newest addition of a 12 foot square topo-relief map with 27 points of interest that light up.

This dynamic facility is co-sponsored by the city of South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Heritage Foundation, California Tahoe Conservancy, BlueGo, and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Laurie Brazil is a member of Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra.