Tahoe National Forest — Sagehen Hills
Camp Review
We camped at an established campsite on Sagehen Hills Road off Highway 89. The road to get there was a nicely graded forest road that any car could drive.
The campsite wasn't quite level, but we fixed it with a rock under the front tire. The campground was on soft dirt that would be perfect for those that are using a tent. It had a fire ring that looked like it had been used only a few times (though there was a flag in it stating that fires were now off-limits). The campsite faced a meadow and was surrounded on the other three sides by trees.
Nothing is perfect and there were a few issues with this site. First, there were a ton of mosquitoes and other biting bugs. Second, there was lots of trash that was littered about, especially bullet casings and broken glass. For the first problem, we made sure to get into the camper quickly and to keep the door closed. For the second, we made sure to keep our shoes on whenever we stepped outside.
There was no service available on Verizon at this site.
What I Learned
Tahoe National Forest does not allow dispersed camping in the Tahoe Basin. Outside of that though, it is allowed.
What Happened?
We were in Lake Tahoe without camping reservations on the July 4th weekend. We actually found a camping spot at Watson Lake (a first-come, first-served free campsite), but it was windy, we were cold, and we wanted warm food. We left the campground for pizza and when we came back 90 minutes later, we found that the campground was full. So, we drove north to get ourselves outside the Tahoe Basin. As we drove north on Highway 89, we found a few established campgrounds and dispersed campsites on the east side of the highway, but they were all fully occupied.
But, when I switched to GaiaGPS map on CarPlay, I saw that I had a saved off-road route. Cassie asked me what that meant, and I told her that it meant that it was an easy off-road path and that we'd probably find a campsite if we were to drive on it. Sure enough, within a mile or two, we found this beautiful campsite that we pulled into. We spent the evening journaling and painting. And soon enough, we were tired and fell asleep to the sound of nothing, which is pretty special on July 4th. Unfortunately, both of us tossed and turned all night long; I had a recurring nightmare that led to an achy calf in the morning, and Cassie fought the cold air that woke her every hour or so.
In the morning, we woke up lazily and took our time getting out of camp. The truth is that our previous day was very adventurous, and our bodies probably wanted to rest more. We headed into Truckee in search of breakfast and found it, though we found the selection disappointing and the serving size meager.