A Sierra Nevada national forest of mountain rivers, granite canyons, alpine lakes, and the northernmost grove of giant sequoias.
Tahoe National Forest
Tahoe National Forest is a United States National Forest in California, situated northwest of Lake Tahoe and spanning parts of six counties: Sierra, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Plumas, and El Dorado. With headquarters in Nevada City, the forest covers a large portion of the western Sierra Nevada, encompassing granite river canyons, hundreds of lakes and reservoirs, long ridgelines, and a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The forest rises from the canyons of the American River at around 1,500 feet to summits above 9,000 feet along the Sierra Crest, producing a layered tapestry of vegetation zones from mountain chaparral and mixed conifer up to red fir forest and eastside sage-pine slopes. It plays a key regional role as the headwaters supplying municipal water to communities in the Sacramento foothills and to Reno and Sparks in Nevada via the Truckee River, while also protecting old-growth habitat and the rare Placer County Big Trees Grove of giant sequoias, the northernmost grove of its kind.
Tahoe National Forest is significant as both a working landscape managed for timber, water, and grazing resources under a federal charter, and as a heavily used recreation forest close to the Sacramento and Reno metropolitan areas. Its mix of rugged wilderness, accessible roads, campgrounds, and a network of trails makes it one of the most visited national forests in the Sierra Nevada.
