Wendy Rush

Lake Tahoe offers amazing views, especially at sunrise. This is Lower Eagle Falls with Emerald Bay in the distance.

If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe before, you’re really missing out. Whether on the Nevada or California side, Tahoe is one of the most beautiful lakes in North America. And you don’t have to take our word for it. Just look for #LakeTahoe on Instagram and the results will speak for themselves.

Lake Tahoe is a hot spot for vacationers, and is one of the most sought-after places in the western United States for honeymooners. You can rent a cabin right on the water, take a jet-ski ride across the lake, or just hang out and do some gaming in the casinos. Tahoe is not big. It has fewer than 100,000 residents, according to TahoeOpenData.org. But this little city has a lot to offer.

Lake Tahoe Named The Most Picturesque Lake In North America

Another thing that Tahoe offers in abundance is amazing views. Which is why the area kills the competition when it comes to getting attention on Instagram. In fact, a study by a vacation rental platform called Lake.com recently confirmed this. By analyzing Instagram posts that contained hashtags relating to major lakes, they found out which lakes in the country had the most posts.

Lake Tahoe took the lead by over 200,000 posts. The data analysts counted 3,053,173 total posts that included a #LakeTahoe hashtag. The second most went to Lake Michigan, which had 2,831,512 posts. Followed by Lake Superior, with 1,187,896 posts, Lake Ontario, with 1,025,574 posts, and Lake Eerie, with 1,011,490 posts.

Honorable Mention For Lake Havasu

It’s pretty cool to have the most picturesque lake in North America in our state. That definitely gives us bragging rights. And we had another nearby body of water in the top ten most popular lakes on Instagram. Lake Havasu in Arizona was number nine in the study. It collected a total of 587,434 hashtags.

The view of a lake as taken from the shore of a rock formation. The water is greenish blue and the sun is bright with mountains in the background.
Cheri Alguire via Getty Images
The view of Lake Havasu from Balanced Rock Cove in Arizona. Along with Lake Tahoe, Lake Havasu is one of the most picturesque lakes near the Las Vegas area.

Lake Powell was also on the list at number eleven, with 463,919 Instagram posts. And Nevada’s Lake Mead came in at number sixteen, with 254,577 posts. Surprisingly, Lake Mojave, located just south of the Hoover Dam in Arizona, didn’t make the list. However, that might be because many people refer to that area as the Colorado River rather than its proper name. But, as someone who paddleboards in that area often, I can tell you it’s also incredibly picturesque.

Related: Great Basin National Park Is Nevada’s Best Kept Secret

So what makes Lake Tahoe so amazing? Well, lots of things. First off, there’s a reason people see “Keep Tahoe Blue” on signs and license plates everywhere. The lake is known for it’s crystal blue water. KeepTahoeBlue.org attributes this quality to the cleanliness of the water and the air. Furthermore, it states that “water as crystal clear as Tahoe’s absorbs red light, leaving the rich blue color that we all see.”

Anyone who has ever been to Lake Tahoe has looked at the water in amazement. It is so clear that in some places you can see down as far as 70 feet, according to KeepTahoeBlue.org. This is due to the marshes that the lake water flows through, which acts as a natural filtration system that weeds out some particles before the water reaches the lake.

10 Photos Of Lake Tahoe That Will Take Your Breath Away

Beyond the clarity of the water in Lake Tahoe, the surrounding mountains and wildlife also make it a beautiful place to be. Here are ten of our favorite photos that show why Tahoe earns the title of most picturesque lake in North America.

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