Secret Cove, located in Lake Tahoe, California is a secluded (and also nudist) beach that offers striking views of the stunning blue water and gorgeous granite rocks. Make sure to pack your swimsuits and paddle boards!
Hike Overview
There is a short hike to this (not so secret) location.
Length: About 1 mile roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy (however some parts can be slippery as you’re going downhill)
Dog Friendly: Yes
Parking: You can try to find parking in some of the free public lots however depending on when you go it might all be full. If that is the case, then you will need to find street parking but be careful not to park in red areas (we saw a lot of people getting tickets on our way out!)
Restrooms: None
Directions
The entrance to the trail is to the right of the parking (whether you park in the lots or on the street). You will just need to keep walking downhill.
We also saw a lot of people on boats so you can get to this location via boat as well.
Secret Cove
We visited the Secret Cove on our 2nd day after visiting Burney Falls and Mossbrae Falls. I guess we were in the mood for more water activities haha. Brea and I have visited Lake Tahoe many times before but it was always for snowboarding. Visiting during summer was quite different!
Make sure to wear comfortable shoes for the hike to the cove. Just bring your sandals so you can change into them later.
There are multiple ways to get to the Secret Cove but there aren’t too many signs on the trail so just try to follow the path. Eventually you will see this sign which means you are going in the right direction.
There are some steep areas so be careful as you walk down.
After about 10 minutes, you’ll start to see a glimpse of the cove!
Once you do reach the beach, there are many spots you can go to. It was pretty crowded during the time that we went but luckily we were able to find this spot and had it all to ourselves.
Yes – the water was cold! But that didn’t stop us from getting in.
Since the location that we really wanted to be at and take photos was taken, we settled for this rock instead.
We took our time at this location. We spent about 2 hours here taking photos of each other and swimming in the water.
Brea’s sister and brother-in-law was able to borrow someone’s paddle board.
The walk back to the car required a little bit more effort than the walk down since we had to go uphill. On the way back up, we found a hammock.
Secret Cove was a pleasant surprise. Although it was pretty packed, we still managed to get decent pictures and was able to keep a safe distance between other groups of people. Next time we visit, we will bring our own paddle board though! And it would have been nice to get a higher viewpoint of the cove.
