Northstar at Tahoe is a premier ski resort in Lake Tahoe. Newly revitalized, Northstar offers year-round activities, shops, restaurants and art galleries. The main attraction at Northstar is the 18 lift ski park, which has 83 runs and over 2,000 feet of vertical terrain. In the summer months, there are mountain biking trails to explore that are serviced by the lifts, roller-skating, hiking and golf. Northstar is located 200 miles west of San Francisco on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
The Washoe tribe of Native Americans inhabited the area for roughly 9,000 years before Europeans arrived. At the time of European settlement, the neighboring Paiutes, who mastered horsemanship first, had overtaken the Washoe. Lake Tahoe was a favorite resting place for pioneers, homesteaders and 49-ers crossing the Rockies headed west. It is believed that the first non-indigenous man to explore the area was John C. Fremont in 1840’s. Once gold was discovered, miners flooded the area, either on their way to mines further west, or to try their luck in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Once the Comstock Load was discovered, the area was heavily logged to shore up the mines.
In the 1950’s, the Lake Tahoe area was developed as a tourist destination. The 1960 Olympics were held at Squaw Valley. Today, tourism is the anchor of Lake Tahoe’s economy. The many ski resorts are a major draw, as is gambling on the Nevada shore of the lake. Year round family fun attracts millions of visitors every year.
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