South Lake Tahoe, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the South Lake Tahoe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96150. It stands on Trout Creek. The Survey maps it on the South Lake Tahoe quadrangle. 21,330 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,237 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1889 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in South Lake Tahoe
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 5 records
Pope Estatelisted 1987
Vikingsholmlisted 1996- Baldwin Estatelisted 1987
- Heller Estatelisted 1987
- Tahoe Meadowslisted 1990
Population over time
3 figuresSouth Lake Tahoe grew from 12,921 to 21,330 between 1970 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 12,921 | |
| 2010 | 21,403 | |
| 2020 | 21,330 | -73 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 34 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1889 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000, 9 printings
- 1948 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Bijou quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS South Lake Tahoe quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Freel Peak quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1962 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1974 USGS South Lake Tahoe quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Smith Valley quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1992 USGS South Lake Tahoe quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
530 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 530 fires within 5 miles of South Lake Tahoe between 1992 and 2020, burning about 894 acres in total. 49 started naturally. 59 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 151 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 114 |
| Smoking | 74 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 59 |
| Natural | 49 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 30 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 15 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Fireworks | 8 |
| Other causes | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | HOLLY |
| 9 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | PARTY |
| 8 September 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | KEYS |
| 8 September 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | KAHLE |
| 8 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | EDNA 1 |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | VALHALLA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of South Lake Tahoe: 5 unknowns, 2 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Limestone, Dimension, Scandium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Rock and Gravel | Limestone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Scandium | Unknown | ||
| Sand & Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Anderson Pit | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Butler Pit | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Anderson Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Butler Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Quarry 1 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown |
Storms near this place
11 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names South Lake Tahoe in 11 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 5 hail, 4 flood, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2005 | Flood | South Lake Tahoe | $1,000,000 | Localized flooding was reported in areas south of Lake Tahoe. Sierra Pacific Power Company reported that at least eight power poles were knocked down, most likely due to the saturated ground. Power lines were also downed when trees fell on them. Around 4,000 people were left without power south of Lake Tahoe. This was the all-time record flood on Trout Creek in South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Valley, flooding U.S. Highway 50. General Creek flooded California Highway 89 at Sugar Pine Point State Park. |
| February 2017 | Flood | South Lake Tahoe | $250,000 | Heavy rain combined with snow berms and clogged storm drains to bring flooding to around 10 homes in South Lake Tahoe starting on the 8th. Bill and Shirley Avenues saw the most flooding damage per a KCRA news article. The damages are roughly estimated. |
| December 1996 | Heavy Rain | South Lake Tahoe | $100,000 | no account filed |
| October 2023 | Heavy Rain | South Lake Tahoe | - | A CoCoRaHS station (CA-ED-35) located 1.4 mi ENE of South Lake Tahoe reported a total rainfall amount of 0.56 inches. |
| March 2018 | Flood | South Lake Tahoe | - | Tahoe Daily Tribune reported that heavy rainfall caused flooding at two residences in South Lake Tahoe along Bill Avenue on 22 March. No damage estimates were available. |
| September 2017 | Hail | South Lake Tahoe | - | Public reported nickel size hail via Facebook. |
| July 2015 | Hail | South Lake Tahoe | - | The hail was estimated to be golf-ball sized from a Facebook image. The hail broke flower pots, a birdbath and two glass tables. |
| August 2013 | Hail | South Lake Tahoe | - | Penny to nickel hail was reported in South Lake Tahoe with hail accumulations up to 2 inches deep. |
| September 1998 | Hail | South Lake Tahoe | - | Very brief hail estimated up to 0.75 inch diameter along the south shore of Lake Tahoe near Emerald Bay. Reported by California Highway Patrol. |
| July 2015 | Hail | South Lake Tahoe | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Flood | South Lake Tahoe | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Tahoe | 0.6 miles | 34 | |
| Lake Valley | 1.1 miles | 35 | |
| Bijou | 1.2 miles | 34 | |
| Tahoe Keys | 1.6 miles | 35 | |
| Tahoe Valley | 1.7 miles | 35 | |
| Bijou Park | 1.8 miles | 34 | |
| Tallac Village | 2.1 miles | 35 | |
| Stateline | 2.8 miles | 34 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on South Lake Tahoe | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q983602 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1659822. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.












