Your summer guide to Lake Tahoe and the Placer foothills as COVID restrictions end

Placer County — home to picturesque foothill communities and a national treasure in Lake Tahoe — is open for business.

As the state of California reopened June 15, lifting pandemic restrictions that had been in place for over a year, county officials say businesses are ready for the summer surge of visitors.

“Out here, we’ve been ready for this for a long time,” said Robert Haswell, CEO of Visit Placer. “It’s going to be a very, very welcoming environment for folks.”

“People are excited,” he added.

Placer’s hospitality and tourism industry was hard-hit by pandemic closures, causing thousands of lost jobs, according to a report by County Executive Todd Leopold last year.

Liz Bowling, spokesperson for the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, said Tahoe-area businesses are doing the best with the workforce they have.

“Luckily we are in Tahoe and the outdoor opportunities are boundless,” Bowling said. “We have so much to offer to folks who want recreation.”

And now that the tier system has come to an end, and capacity restrictions have been lifted, outdoor recreation and dining experiences from Roseville to Kings Beach are available, Haswell said, with many businesses in the foothills able to accommodate more visitors because of larger indoor and outdoor infrastructure that was built over the last year.

“I think the experiences are going to be even better than they were pre-COVID and that’s pretty exciting,” Haswell said.

Lake Tahoe

Most headliner events that were canceled last year have returned to the Tahoe region, Bowling said, such as the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, and the Made in Tahoe Festival featuring works by local artisans.

Venues such as the Crystal Bay Casino are holding live concerts again and Kings Beach will have live music every Friday throughout the summer.

“Everyone is excited to get back to our new normal,” Bowling said.

And while most businesses are following state guidelines, which allow fully vaccinated visitors to go maskless in most settings and no longer require social distancing, Bowling said visitors should be prepared in the event some businesses still choose to require masks and ask that reservations are made ahead of time.

Restrictions on burning are also in place this summer, meaning wood and charcoal fires are prohibited on national forest lands and state recreation areas, including campgrounds.

And while some municipal boat ramps are closed for the summer because of low water level, water activities are still widely available. Visitors can book a full moon kayak trip or take a cruise on one of the Lake’s paddle wheelers, the Tahoe Gal, or float the Truckee River, which is Lake Tahoe’s only outlet.

Bowling said one of her biggest pieces of advice for visitors is “don’t forget the mountains.”

Tahoe’s ski resorts have fully opened many of their summer activities and events this year. At Northstar resort, visitors can make advance reservations for downhill mountain biking or chairlift rides. And at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, tourists can book a hour and a half E-mountain bike tour High Camp, or book a hike to Shirley Canyon where you can walk through meadows covered in wildflowers.

And at night, visitors can enjoy clear, unobstructed views of the stars with a guided tour of the constellations.

After the influx in visitors in the last few years, Bowling said officials are really stressing the importance of being responsible and adhering to instructions and signs along trails and at the lake.

“It’s things like packing out your trash if a garbage bin is full and don’t leave it on the ground,” she said. “That can be harmful to wildlife.”

Visitor bureaus in the Tahoe Basin are encouraging visitors to review the region’s traveler’s pledge before visiting, which outlines best practices for stewardship during a visit such as refraining from feeding wildlife.

Central Placer foothills

There’s also plenty of activities in the foothill communities of Placer County, stretching from Loomis to Meadow Vista.

The region’s wineries, breweries and distilleries are now cleared to fully reopen, many of them with expanded food options as a result of the pandemic, Haswell of Visit Placer said.

The Placer Wine and Ale Trail features 23 wineries, 15 craft breweries and dozens of tap rooms. Most wineries have opened their tasting rooms for the weekends, but some still require reservations such as Bonitata Boutique Winery in Auburn. Breweries are also open, but many ask that you call ahead.

And over the July 4th weekend, the cities of Auburn and Colfax will host celebrations after those were canceled last year.

The city of Colfax will hold its annual 3rd of July celebration, featuring a parade, muscle cars, live music and fireworks.

In Auburn, the celebration begins at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast in Old Town followed by a parade at 10:30 a.m. Fireworks will begin at the fairgrounds at 9:30 p.m.

“Water access is a big part of a summer visit to Placer,” Haswell said.

Auburn Recreation Area is a popular destination for water activities, he said, and while it is often crowded over the summer, this year the county has added a shuttle route to the reservoir to help relieve the traffic congestion.

South Placer

For families looking for a quick escape, the south Placer cities of Roseville and Rocklin have family-friendly activities available after being closed or limited during the last year.

Golfland SunSplash, Roseville’s largest water park and family theme park, reopened Wednesday. The park is still enforcing limited capacity, according to state guidelines, so visitors must have a reservation to enter. Groups visiting the park are limited to no more than three households.

The Placer County Fair is back on this year, too. After being canceled last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, the fair is likely to be one of the largest events of the summer, coming just a week after the state reopens.

The fair’s lineup will include games, food booths and concerts. There will also be plenty of free crafts for families, and pie-baking and photography contests. The Miss Placer County Scholarship Pageants and Placer County Rib Cook-off will also return this year, along with livestock exhibits and auctions.

The fair will have 20 rides, including a Ferris wheel and 100-foot drop ride.

Quarry Park in Rocklin still requires a reservation in order to visit. The park offers adventures in rock climbing, rappelling, and zip lines.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Your summer guide to Lake Tahoe and the Placer foothills as COVID restrictions end."