New book featuring historic Tahoe trails due out Aug. 2

Those looking for a new trail to blaze in Lake Tahoe with some interesting history behind it are in for a treat this August.

Freelance writer and author Suzie Dundas is getting ready to release her new book “Hiking Lake Tahoe: A History and Travel Guide,” which mixes recreation and history to give readers an unique view on their next hike in the basin.

“I think it’s really important to understand where you live and explore where you live to see the value and protect where you live,” said Dundas. “The hikes in the book can help people get outside and realize how beautiful and also how fragile the environment is and how much they need to protect these beautiful places.”

The book will be available for purchase Aug. 2 in local bookstores in the Tahoe basin, as well as online at hikinglaketahoe.com and Amazon. The book will also be available in local recreation and hiking stores around the basin.

Dundas said that when the pandemic hit last year, it gave her the perfect opportunity to really begin to focus on researching and planning her book, which offers a variety of trails for anyone to enjoy, including lakeside retreats and all-day adventures from Sugar Bowl to Squaw Valley.

“I would say that I am a tree-hugging, history nerd who loves Tahoe,” Dundas said. “I’m an avid hiker. So I was already familiar with a lot of these trails. I think Tahoe’s history is extremely interesting and also extremely deep. I don’t think people realize how many layers of people were here before and how long it’s been inhabited and all the really interesting stuff that went on here, from ghosts towns to the Donner party, to the Native Americans who lived here literally thousands of years before anybody else was here.”

Dundas explained that what makes her travel book unique was the opportunity to not only enjoy the trails, but to learn about the history along the way. During her researching process, she used old newspapers, and her time on each of the hikes in the book to make notes and do further research while at home.

“I think it’s really cool to be able to stand in a spot where somebody stood 200 years before you,” Dundas said. “I think it really fascinated me that we get to live in a place where you can literally walk through history.”