Just above the glittering casinos in Crystal Bay, the Stateline Fire Lookout offers a vantage point unlike any other at Lake Tahoe. A short and scenic hike takes you to a point high above the Lake that is surrounded by dwarf oak and an old-growth pine forest. From this 7,077-foot-high crest, spectacular vistas of Crystal Bay, Brockway Springs and the entire
Tahoe Basin unfold below you. Self-guided sign posts walk you through the history of the region, the stomping grounds of Mark Twain and many lumber barons in the 1800s.

Today, this jewel is known more for dining, gaming and entertainment. The Cal-Neva Resort, The Crystal Bay Club and the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino each offer excellent dining, gaming, hotel rooms and a bustling music scene. The Crystal Bay’s Crown Room stage and Red Room Cabaret offer world-class rock, blues, jazz and comedy and, of course, dancing, every day of the week. The Cal-Neva, once owned by Frank Sinatra and frequented by the likes of the Rat Pack, the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe, straddles the border of California and Nevada. It’s rumored to be where Marilyn spent her last weekend. Past owners and guests can claim it’s haunted by some of these famous celebs. For a bit of romance, the Soule Domain restaurant, adjacent to the soon-to-be-re-developed Tahoe Biltmore, offers fine dining in a historic log cabin built by Harr y Riley at the same time as the original Cal Neva Lodge in 1927. The hearth, in the Indian Room, features stones quarried at Crystal Bay and exposed log beams from local mills.

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