This is a nice warmup to gauge how well you're able to hike at altitude. Walk out of the back of the guest house and head straight up the hill. After ten minutes or so when it starts getting steep, pick up a small trail to the left (west) and follow that up and to the west until you pick up the very distinct fire road. Continue along the fire road for just a couple of minutes until you hit a bend with a panoramic view of Lake Tahoe.
If you are still feeling good, you can continue along the fire road west and downward, then take the fork to the right near Lariat Circle. You can follow this trail up into the mountains with a stream to the left of the trail. After forty five minutes you will hit a clearing and the fire road will end, but you can continue along on either side of the stream all the way up to Rifle Peak and beyond. Beyond this clearing is very rugged hiking. I recommend long pants or gaiters to avoid scratching your legs up, and take plenty of water and a cell phone.
This is an easy hike with a nice payoff at the top. Drive on SR 28 (Tahoe Blvd.) from Incline toward California on the north shore. Just before the California border, in Crystal Bay, there will be a road to the right called Beowawie Road. Follow this to Tuscarora Road, then right on Lake View. Park near the gate on the fire road but of course don't block the gate. An easy fifteen minute hike up the fire road will take you to the historic Stateline Point Lookout. Various interpretive signs will tell you some interesting history about the Lake and the region, including how California stole the Brockway Hotsprings down below from Nevada in a shady "resurvey" land grab. Did you know Tahoe was called "Bigler Lake" until the early 1900's?
Drive from Incline East on SR 28 (Tahoe Blvd.) to the Ponderosa Ranch and park along the road. Hike up Tunnel Creek Road to the gate on the fire road, then continue on. You'll probably encounter a number of bikers coming the other direction on the world famous Flume Trail mountain bike trail.
Near the top of Tunnel Creek Road, see if you can find the former entrance to the tunnel bored through the hill to bring water to the other side of the mountains for a log flume down to Carson. This side of the tunnel was dynamited long ago, but you can still find the location if you have a topo map and a little ingenuity. (Incidentally, the other side of the tunnel is much more obvious with a gated blockhouse over the tunnel entrance).
Continue on until you find two crystal clear, boulder strewn gems of lakes called Twin Lakes (you will probably need a topo map to guide you. It's easy to hike right past them!)
This is a fairly strenuous hike and will take a few hours. Bring plenty of water.
With more than 150 miles of trails encircling Lake Tahoe, this will keep you busy for a while. Some of the best sections are located close to Incline Village. Several trailheads are located in the Tahoe Meadows just a few miles up Mt. Rose Highway (SR 431). Consult the Tahoe Rim Trail website for details.
Find the trailhead near Tahoe Meadows (see the Great Drives section). This hike will take several hours and is quite demanding though not technically difficult. There is a bit of rock scrambling at the end but no rock climbing per se.
These three beaches can be reached from a small (about 25 car) parking area off SR28 several miles south of Sand Harbor. Watch carefully for this parking area as it is easy to miss, and U turns are difficult. Chimney Beach is the northernmost of these three beaches and can be reached by following the trail almost directly down to the lake and slightly to the right. The beach gets its name from the remains of an old chimney near the beach. Whale Beach gets its name from a rock formation about twenty yards from the shore that looks like a whale breaking the surface of the water. To reach Whale Beach stay on the fire road from the parking lot for a good ways rather than cutting down immediately. Whale Beach is the furthest hike of this group of three beaches but can be reached in about forty five minutes. All three of these beaches are excellent places to take dogs.
Weekdays are better times to go to these beaches than weekends; depending on the time of year, weekends can be crowded and parking can be difficult. If you are willing to get there before ten AM you'll find a spot almost any day of the year, including weekends during busy season.
Warning: some of the beaches in this area are unofficial nude beaches. If this makes you uncomfortable, then don't hike down.
This east shore beach is another couple of miles south of the Secret Beach parking area, just before Highway 28 cuts up toward Spooner Lake and Carson City. Park on the right side of the road near the beginning of the gate for the fire road. The hike down is longer than for Chimney, Secret, or Whale beaches but the trail is excellent (it is a fire road). At the bottom of the trail are several historic buildings that were built by an old Tahoe family. The buildings are now under the management of the US Forest Service. The beaches at and around Skunk Harbor are also unregulated. There is no trash service and no trash cans past the parking area. You must pack out everything you take down.
Skunk Harbor is a great place to take dogs!