Whether you're baking in the dry heat of a Sacramento Valley summer or languishing amid the rain showers of a San Francisco winter, the heights of the Sierra Nevada, straight to the east within Tahoe National Forest, can seem like Shangri-La. In summer, Tahoe's deep river canyons and high peaks beckon adventurers in search of cool air and waters, panoramic views, meadows of wildflowers, and forest of firs, hemlocks and hardwoods. And in winter, when the conifers groan under the weight of hundreds of inches of "Sierra cement"—the moisture-laden snow the California mountains rob from Pacific storm systems—the greatest concentration of ski lifts in the country is just a straight shot on I-80 away from the Bay Area. Read More »