Guidebook to Tahoe's shores to outline water trail

Bob Kingman is leading an effort to create a guidebook to Lake Tahoe's shoreline.

"What we'd like to do is compile a guidebook so people can put together their own trips," he said.

The trips for kayaks, canoes and small sailboats would follow what he's calling a "water trail" along 72 miles of shore.

"The trail itself is already there. It's the shoreline of the lake, essentially," he said.

Boaters on a multi-day trips would use the guidebook to locate water trail- friendly motels or inns. Those inns ideally would supply space for boaters to lock up equipment.

"After I paddled the lake, I looked at it completely differently," said Kingman, who works for the California Tahoe Conservancy. "There are so many hidden, secret places on the shoreline you never get to see from a car."

Kingman began thinking about the possibility of water trail system as part of an idea contest for a tourism conference.

Tahoe Tomorrow, a grass-roots action group, told Kingman it was interested in his idea. Now he is a member of Tahoe Tomorrow and acting chairman of its Lake Tahoe Water Trail Committee.

"That's the problem with coming up with an idea," Kingman joked. "They said to me, 'That's a good idea. Why don't you do it?'"

Kingman, 39, an avid kayaker, said it's possible for people to paddle around the lake in about three days if they are aggressive. The trip takes four or five days if it's more of a relaxed adventure.

As a model, Kingman said he is looking at a water trail system in the Florida Everglades. He's also following the progress of a water trail project under way for the San Francisco Bay. A group called Bay Access is working to create 86 access points for boaters around the bay's 230-mile shoreline.

"I think it would be a great idea," said Debra Herne of Kayak Tahoe, which rents kayaks at Timbercove Marina. "The main advantage would be people having a legal place to camp. Every year, we have a handful of people that want to paddle around the lake, and there are limited places for them to stay."

As it stands, the only camp on the lakeshore is the boat camp at Emerald Bay with just 20 spaces. The campground used to be run on a first-come, first-served basis, but this summer it switched to a reservation system.

Kingman anticipates having a water trail system in place by spring. The Lake Tahoe Water Trail Committee is planning a fund-raising event to kickoff the project in mid-September.

you can help

Anyone interested in helping establish the trail system may call (530) 542-5651. Proposed plans for the Bay area water trail system are at www.bayaccess.org.