Sand Harbor is turquoise water over granite boulders, and the morning, before the cove fills, is the time to be in it. People swim, sit on the rock, and put kayaks in off the same beach. The paved East Shore Trail from Incline Village hugs that shoreline all the way to the sand.
NV-28 is the shore road, and the parking at Sand Harbor is the bottleneck in summer. From May 15 through September 30, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park requires a day-use vehicle reservation for morning entry, as of September 2026. Camping is not allowed at Sand Harbor, and the day-use lot is not a place to sleep.
Nevada Beach at Zephyr Cove is the Forest Service campground on this same shore, tent and RV sites with no hookups. Mount Rose is first-come and high, and it opens and closes with the weather rather than a printed month. Book the pad before you book the van. Summer puts Sand Harbor's morning window and these campgrounds' busiest weeks on the same dates.
Spooner Lake is the trailhead for the Flume Trail and a long stretch of the Tahoe Rim Trail. Camping there is walk-in only, so the van stays put while you hike. If you keep going over the Sierra passes, Truckee and Donner pick up the California side.
Pyramid Lake
From the west shore, you look at a tufa pyramid in flat blue water with bare desert hills behind it. The Pyramid, Stone Mother, and the Needles stay closed to visitors, so you take the view from the beach. People swim, fish, and camp along that shore.
A Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe permit is required to swim, fish, or camp anywhere around the lake, as of September 2026. Day use and overnight camping take separate permits, sold per vehicle, and you camp on the west-shore beach. The drive north on NV-447 is the Burning Man trip.
Washoe Lake State Park
South of Reno toward Carson City, Washoe Lake is open water with a campground on the shore, the usual first night out of town. The state park takes reservations every month of the year. Loop A has hookups. Several sites take RVs up to 45 feet, and if you need more sleeping room or a longer rig, start with Nevada RV rentals.
Virginia City
C Street in Virginia City still has the plank sidewalks and false-front buildings from the Comstock years, and the walk along it is the day. Vans do not overnight in town. Carson City is south on the same road, and the rest of Nevada starts east of Fallon.
