Lake Tahoe in November: Weather, What's Open, 2026 Events

November is the month between seasons at Lake Tahoe. The summer boats and house tours have stopped, the ski resorts open in the last ten days of it, and the first storms put chains on the passes.

The 1991–2020 normal high at South Lake Tahoe Airport in November is 50.9°F and the normal low 23.3°F (NOAA). Tahoe City, on the north shore, averages 47.7°F and 25.9°F, with 9.4 inches of snow in a normal November against 36.2 in December.

So expect cold nights, short days and the odd snow day. Thanksgiving week is the exception, when the resorts open and the lake fills up.

What has closed for the season

• Vikingsholm tours at Emerald Bay ended September 30 in 2026. The 2-mile round trip walk down to the house stays open, with no water or services until May.
• The Tahoe Gal in Tahoe City runs May through October only.
• Thunderbird Lodge tours ended October 16.
• The Gatekeeper's Museum in Tahoe City goes to appointment-only from November 1 to March 31.
• Van Sickle Bi-State Park closes to cars on October 31; it stays open on foot, sunrise to sunset.
• D.L. Bliss State Park is closed to cars; Pope and Baldwin beaches lose their parking lots but stay open to walkers.

What is still open

• Sand Harbor is open 8 a.m. to an hour after sunset, and the vehicle reservations it needs in summer end on September 30. $10 for Nevada cars, $15 for others. The Sand Harbor camera shows the lot entrance road.
• Spooner Lake, Cave Rock and Kings Beach are open all year for day use.
• Emerald Bay is open sunrise to sunset; the SR-89 page says whether the road there is.
• The M.S. Dixie II at Zephyr Cove sails on dated holiday cruises (below).

Everything else on each shore, with its winter status, is in things to do in Lake Tahoe.

Ski resort opening days, 2026

These are the dates the resorts announced, all "conditions permitting", and they move with the snow. The Tahoe ski resort opening dates page re-reads each resort's own site. The Tahoe City Winter Sports Park opens its ice rink on Saturday, November 28; reservations open November 4 at noon.

November 2026 at the lake, by date

• November 1: the last night of Spooky Harbor at Sand Harbor, with Coco at 6 p.m. and a Día de los Muertos celebration from 3 p.m.
• November 6: Warren Miller's Days Off, the annual ski film, at Harrah's Lake Tahoe South Shore Room, 7:30 p.m.
• November 6–15: South Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week.
• November 11: a free Veterans Day cruise on the M.S. Dixie II for veterans and active military, on the 12 p.m. Emerald Bay sailing. Proof of service at the ticket booth.
• November 14: a holiday market at the Kahle Community Center in Stateline, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the Pray for Snow Film Festival at South Lake Brewing, 6 p.m., $18.
• November 20–22: the 31st Valhalla Holiday Faire, free, with more than 30 local vendors in the Valhalla Grand Hall.
• November 26, Thanksgiving: a dinner cruise on the M.S. Dixie II from 4 to 7 p.m., and Thanksgiving dinner at Palisades' Olympic House. Prices and the Tahoe City and Reno options are on Thanksgiving in Reno and Tahoe.
• November 27: the Heavenly Village Holiday Tree Lighting, from 6:30 p.m., a 65-foot fresh-cut tree. Free.
• November 28: Welcome to Winter in The Village at Palisades Tahoe, 12:30 to 5 p.m.

The full month, shows and live music included, is in the November 2026 events listing. December carries on from here in Lake Tahoe in December.

The drive in November

A November storm can put chain controls on every road into the basin. From Reno the shortest way to the north shore is SR-431, the highest of the routes; the south shore is US-50 over Spooner Summit, or Kingsbury Grade from the Carson Valley.

Whether you need chains on each, right now, is answered on its page, and the passes from California are Donner and Echo Summit. The snow coming in the next 72 hours is on the Tahoe snow forecast.

Cameras on SR-28, the north and Nevada shore highway, from Tahoe City to Spooner.