It’s easy to be captivated by Lake Tahoe’s ancient, shimmering waters and the vast mountain landscapes forever resting in the distance. Yet looming over every corner and rooted along almost every path are some of Tahoe’s oldest and most majestic locals – trees. “There are three ways to tell trees apart – cones, needles, and bark,” says Maria Mircheva, a passionate tree lover, expert and Executive Director of the Sugar Pine Foundation, an organization focusing on creating and upholding forest stewardship through things like environmental education and forest restoration. “The Sugar Pine Foundation plants hope as surely as it plants seedlings—restoring forests, creating a connection, and sowing seeds in people’s minds so that conservation becomes a shared promise for future generations.” From ascending the ridgelines of Mt. Tallac, to the wildflower-strewn Alpine Meadows, Mircheva shows us that these woods are teeming with a variety of species.
JEFFREY PINE (Pinus jeffreyi)
Residing in much of the Tahoe Basin, jeffrey pines are considered as the classic Tahoe tree. These lofty entities can live up to 500 years and are known to be very fire resistant thanks to their thick bark. A jeffrey pine’s needles are long and usually come in spurs of threes. They have heavy, spiny cones which range from 4 to 10 inches in length with the barbs pointing inward. “The spines are adaptations,” says Mircheva, “for animals to stay off, so they can’t get the seeds because the seeds are what reproduce.” Mircheva recalls reading about how a jeffrey pine was once found above 10,000 feet elevation. “They call jeffrey pines the ‘tree of the future’ because they’re so versatile and can survive in such extreme environments,” Mircheva adds.
Elevation: 6,000 – 8,000 feet
Where to spot them:
- East Shore: Nevada Beach, Sand Harbor, Skunk Harbor, Zephyr Cove
- D.L. Bliss State Park
- Rubicon Trail
- Tahoe City to Alpine Meadows foothills
Fun Fact: Did you know that when jeffrey pines are warmed by the sun’s rays, they emit a vanilla or butterscotch scent? This is due to the tree producing sap that sits closer to the bark inside the tree. Next time you happen upon one basking in the sun, try the smell test.
SIERRA LODGEPOLE PINE (Pinus contorta var. murrayana)
Think of lodgepole pines as the tree version of a phoenix. They’re used to rising from the ashes (literally). Known as the comeback species, these trees are often seen in areas where burns or floods have previously taken place. They have scaly bark and are nicknamed “wet feet” because “Lodgepoles are the only conifer that can survive flooding,” explains Mercheva. “All the other ones die.” Lodgepole pinecones are very small in size, and many remain closed until they are triggered by high temperatures caused by fires or intense sunlight, allowing for rapid forest regeneration. Their pine needles consist of two in a cluster that make the shape of an L.
Elevation: 6000 – 9,000 feet
Where to spot them:
- Tahoe Meadows
- Spooner Summit
- Meiss Meadows
- Donner Summit
- Wildwood Avenue in South Lake Tahoe
Fun Fact: Lodgepole pines were first used by Native Americans to build lodges and teepees, hence the name Lodgepole.
WHITE FIR (Abies concolor)
Feel free to throw shade at white firs. In fact, they don’t seem to mind it. As one of the most shade-tolerant trees, they’re often the first trees to grow thanks to their natural succession, making them the trail-blazer conifer species after fires. White Firs fall just behind Jeffrey Pines in terms of lower elevation domination. They have flatter, shorter needles. “The needles are more yellowish green, and point out,” Mircheva explains. They tend to grow in mixed conifer forests, with some growing as tall as 180 feet. The cones rest on the top branches of the tree and sit straight up. The bark on mature trees is scaly and carved, with an ashy-brown color.
Elevation: 4,000 – 7000 feet
Where to spot them:
- North-facing slopes
- Blackwood Canyon
- Lower Desolation Wilderness trailheads
Fun Fact: White fir needles have a distinct lemon-orange smell when broken or crushed and are commonly grown to be used for Christmas trees.
RED FIR (Abies magnifica)
Red firs dominate subalpine forests throughout the Sierra Nevada. They prefer higher elevations and can handle heavy loads of snow thanks to their shelf-like branches. Similar to their white fir cousins, red firs have cones that sit upright on their branches, and Mircheva adds, “The pine needles face up.” Mature red firs have a distinctive reddish-brown bark. Early mountaineers used their plushy boughs to prepare their beds.
Elevation: 6000 – 9000 feet
Where to spot them:
- Mount Rose Highway
- Blackwood Canyon
- Angora Lake
- Stanford Rock Trail (access through Ward Creek Rd)
Fun Fact: Prior to maturity, young red firs are nick-named “silvertip” because of the silver luster of their needles and like white firs, are commonly favored to be used as Christmas trees.
WHITEBARK PINE (Pinus albicaulis)
Located in the subalpine zone, whitebark pines are considered Tahoe’s toughest trees due to their ability to adapt to extreme, high-elevated conditions. They are shaped by wind and ice which gives them a twisted and gnarled appearance, sometimes in krummholz (German for “crooked wood”) form. They can withstand hurricane-force wind gusts. Whitebark pines grow slowly but tend to live long lives. Their cones are often described as egg-shaped and do not open until they decay, which makes whitebark pines among the most primitive species in the Sierras.
Elevation: 8500 – 10,000+ feet
Where to spot them:
- Freel Peak area
- Mount Tallac’s upper slopes
- Monument Peak
- Crystal Range by Lake Aloha
Fun Fact: Whitebark pines have a symbiotic relationship with the Clark’s Nutcracker, a species of bird that relies on the tree for food while the tree relies on the bird for seed dispersal.
INCENSE CEDAR (Calocedrus decurrens)
Preferring lower elevations of the basin, incense cedars make up many parts of Tahoe’s beautiful landscape on the slopes leading down to the water. Around Tahoe, you can find some aging from 150 to 300 years old. Commonly mistaken for pine trees, they are actually part of the cypress family and have cones shaped like a duck’s bill. They are very aromatic and are favored to be used for chests and closets.
Elevation: 2000 – 7000 feet
Where to spot them:
- Emerald Bay/Vikingsholm
- D.L. Bliss State Park
- Incense Cedar Trail in South Lake Tahoe
- Secret Harbor
Fun Fact: Incense cedars rose to fame due to their soft, splinterless wood which has become a premiere industry-standard to create pencils.
SUGAR PINE (Pinus lambertiana)
“Sugar pines, with their graceful crowns, octopussy branches and long, fragrant cones dangling at the ends of those branches, have a charming silhouette that captures the imagination of people who walk beneath them,” says Mircheva. The world’s tallest pine species, sugar pines have been called the “king of pines” and are known for their giant pinecones which have the potential to reach up to 24 inches long. “They have shorter needles, and they come in bundles of five,” says Mircheva. Sugar pines are part of the white pine group, and Maria and her team at the Sugar Pine Foundation work with these amazing trees along with other white pines to fight against a tree fungus called Blister Rust.
Elevation: 2000 -7800 feet
Where to spot them:
- Ed Z’Berg Sugar Pine Point State Park in Tahoma
- Emerald Bay State Park
- Desolation Wilderness (lower elevations)
- West Shore canyons
- D.L. Bliss Campground near Lester Beach
Fun Fact: While early California settlers used its wood for fences and shingles for their homes, Native Americans would gather and eat their large, candy-like pine nuts. A Sugar Pine’s sweetish resin is how it got its name.
SIERRA JUNIPER (Juniperus occidentalis)
The Sierra or Western Juniper are some of the oldest and most gnarled-looking trees in the region, sometimes reaching ages of more than 2000 years old. They prefer higher elevations and can develop thick, hardy roots that interlace rocks and use them to grow laterally in an effort to stabilize themselves.
Elevation: 7500 – 10000 feet
Where to spot them:
- Desolation Wilderness
- Blackwood Canyon
- Tahoe Rim Trail
Fun Fact: A western juniper’s trunk diameter can reach a massive 16 feet – that’s comparable to 28 people standing side by side!
QUAKING ASPEN (Populus tremuloides)
While the dominant coniferous forest takes up much of Tahoe, you can’t help but notice the shimmying leaves of quaking aspen trees. These deciduous trees are part of the willow family and thrive near water sources. They are the most widely distributed tree in North America. Known as the “eyes of the forest”, the eye-like markings on their soft, smooth bark are from self-pruning their lower branches when they fail to receive enough sunlight.
Elevation: 5000 – 12000 feet
Where to spot them:
- Fallen Leaf Lake
- Hope Valley
- Spooner Lake State Park
- Van Sickle State Park
- Spring Creek
Fun Fact: Beavers absolutely love aspen trees. They prefer to snack on their bark over anything else. Aspen wood also makes for top tier dam-making material.