Don’t go to Lake Tahoe in 2023, says the big travel guide | Tech US News

“Lake Tahoe has a people problem,” noted the guide. “In the midst of the pandemic and the great migration, there was an influx of people moving to the mountains, as well as people with second homes in the area coming to live in Tahoe permanently. And it caused traffic along the lake to drag, as well as keeping the roads and beaches full.”

The result, in addition to the congestion from Truckee to Tahoe City, is that particulate pollution is seeping into the lake and obscuring the cobalt blue waters that are its main attraction. A partial solution would be to decrease car traffic around the lake, and that’s why Fodor is begging people not to go.

“Improving Tahoe’s traffic conditions will reduce this source of pollution,” the guide states, “and ease the stress and strain of Tahoe travel.”

Andy Chapman, CEO of Travel North Tahoe Nevada, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But he told the guide that while Tahoe has its challenges, the solution is not to avoid it. “We all need to give nature a break, but we don’t want to tell people not to come to Tahoe,” Chapman told Fodor’s. “We want to educate people to respect Tahoe.”

Jesse Patterson, director of strategy for the environmental advocacy nonprofit Keep Tahoe Blue, was unaware of Fodor’s list before The Chronicle asked him Sunday. After reading it online, I also disagreed that Tahoe should be on the “No” list, although the concerns raised by Fodor had merit.

“Fodor’s is right that we get a lot of visitors and it takes a toll on the environment and the local community, mainly with traffic and trash,” Patterson said. “Everyone has to come and see the lake, but we ask that they leave the lake better than they found it, by parking their car once and getting around by public transport and ski transport and carpooling and picking up litter if it’s yours or yours. . . That’s the Keep Tahoe Blue lifestyle.”

In compiling his “None List,” Fodor created three categories for inclusion: natural attractions that could use a break to heal and rejuvenate; cultural centers affected by overcrowding and the depletion of resources; and places around the world immediately and dramatically affected by water crises.

On the plus side, Tahoe made the list in the “natural attractions that could use a break” category, which is where it should be if your location has to make the list. Tahoe has been in the company of the coast of France, where the paths and beaches are worn from overuse, especially at the D-Day attraction of Normandy Beach, and the Antarctic Peninsula, which attracts 100,000 tourists a year who come to feel the warm weather and see the wildlife disappear.

In the category of ‘suffering cultural places’, Venice, Italy, Cornwall, England and Thailand made the list. The guide also listed the places most affected by water crises: they include Maui, the southern European watershed and the entire American West. The guide stopped short of dissuading people from visiting the entire state of California, but it did highlight the much-visited coastal town of Mendocino, which made headlines in the summer of 2021 by moving water to inns and other facilities.