After September 4, 2023, the Aerial Tram will be open Friday-Sunday. In October, it will be open October 1 and 6-8, closing until winter on October 9.
Palisades Tahoe iconic aerial tram offers what is perhaps the most dramatic scenic mechanized mountain high at Lake Tahoe. Many passengers in the dog-friendly stand-up conveyance experience vertigo as dizzying panoramas pass before and beneath them during the 2,000-foot vertical ascent. At the top is High Camp, a sports complex with a swimming pool, ice-skating rink, umbrella bar, tennis courts and restaurant.
High Camp is a great place to hang out and enjoy the views, but it’s also the jumping-off point for a web of hiking trails that lead around a wildflower-strewn meadow, over a ridge into a vast wilderness area and down Shirley Canyon to the base-area Village at Palisades Tahoe and pet-friendly Plumpjack Inn. At 8,200 feet and more above sea level, none of it comes easy, but all of it is beautiful.
Should you choose to arrive by foot, allow about four hours for the strenuous, four-mile hike up Shirley Canyon. Unless you’re a trail runner with serious confidence in your ankles, the hike down requires just slightly less time. Much scrambling over exposed granite slabs is involved, so pay close attention to ensure your dog’s feet don’t get blistered. Use your judgment when deciding to leash or unleash. It’s not required on national forest land, but this is rugged terrain where dogs can disappear from sight in an instant.
With food and beverage available on both ends of the trip, a day at High Camp is one of the most rewarding summer experiences at Tahoe. As always at Palisades, four-legged hikers ride free.
Word to the wise: Call about weather conditions before making the trip.
