Conolley Beach (Timber Cove)
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Conolley Beach, also called Timber Cove, sits in the middle of South Lake Tahoe's hotel strip beside the Beach Retreat. It looks private, but the sand is public. There's a long pier, a marina with motorized rentals and parasailing, restaurants, and shallow water that's easy wading for little kids.
Handy if you're staying on the strip, but it feels like a hotel's beach and parking is a real fight.
How we score beachesThe public has a right to the sand in summer, including a set number of reserved public parking spots. Don't let the hotel frontage talk you out of it.
A limited number of public parking spaces are set aside by the marina; they go early on summer weekends.
Paved walkways and the pier sit right beside the sand.
Public beach access is guaranteed June 1 through September 30, which is also when the marina and rentals run. The rest of the year it's a quiet stretch of hotel shoreline.
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