Lake Tahoe makes Forbes’ list of lakes worth visiting
By Miriam Marcus, Forbes
Lifelong fisherman Jay Cassell, deputy editor of Field & Stream magazine, treasures lakeside vacations for the peace and tranquility only one can offer.
“There’s nothing like sitting on a cabin deck and watching the sun set over a gorgeous lake,” he says, “or getting in a canoe early in the morning and paddling off into the mist” to fish for the day’s catch.
Lake Tahoe makes Forbes' list of lakes worth visiting. Photo/Kathryn Reed
Among his favorite locales: Maine’s Millinocket Lake, which he calls a canoer’s and hiker’s paradise, though he travels there to fish for large brook trout and rare landlocked salmon.
Another favorite: California’s Lake Tahoe. This 22-mile-long expanse has attracted visitors to its shores since the Washoe Indians first gathered there centuries ago. Today travelers can view the lake from surrounding ski slopes or hike trails that wind through the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountain range. The view is immaculate from any vantage point, and the lake is a popular destination for travelers year-round.
Like Tahoe, many of the bodies of water on Forbes’ list of lovely lakes lie in a delicate space — their beauty draws admirers, but too many tourists can diminish the unspoiled quality that made the lakes so enchanting in the first place. At Lake Clark, a pristine turquoise-blue gem in southwestern Alaska, the national park service has found a way to ensure the lake doesn’t become overrun: Far from any roadway, it is accessible primarily by small aircraft.
