As summer arrives, beaches take steps to Keep Tahoe Blue

Lake Tahoe beaches will be a popular destination this summer.

Lake Tahoe beaches will be a popular destination this summer.
Katy Jo Caringer, Katy Jo Photo, ECO-CLEAN Solutions

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Building on last summer’s success in reducing litter at Lake Tahoe beaches following busy holidays, Keep Tahoe Blue is expanding its Tahoe Blue Beach program around the Lake in 2025.

Kings Beach, the Tahoe Beach Club, Camp Richardson Resort, and Meeks Bay Resort join Zephyr Cove Resort in participating in the annual event.

“Through the Tahoe Blue Beach program, our guests last summer enjoyed a clean, pristine beach and they did their part to keep it that way,” said Zephyr Cove Resort concessionaire Aramark Destinations Tahoe District Manager Kevin Schiesz. “That’s the beauty of this program. Our staff worked together with Keep Tahoe Blue and the Forest Service to create an experience where taking care of the beach — while you enjoy it — just feels natural.”

The Tahoe Blue Beach program brings together land managers, concessionaires, businesses, nonprofits, and the local community to protect the environment and everyone’s lakeside experience.

The Tahoe Blue Beach program offers a flexible, data-driven model for better beach management through the ‘Three E’s’ framework.

  • Education comes first. Clear, engaging signage and proactive outreach help beachgoers understand how to recreate responsibly before stepping on the sand.
  • Engineering upgrades follow. That means managed parking, restrooms, trash and recycling stations, and natural access points designed to reduce erosion and blend with Tahoe’s landscape.
  • Enforcement is the final step. When expectations are clear, enforcement helps protect fragile ecosystems and wildlife, preventing the misuse of shared lands.

There are two tiers of involvement in the program. Members have implemented Engineering, Education, and Enforcement elements and are striving to do more. Participants are piloting a select combination of the Three E’s that are best suited for their sites.


Last summer, Zephyr Cove Resort and Shoals saw a 97 percent reduction in litter left over from the Fourth of July after implementing changes as part of the Tahoe Blue Beach program. Now, the site’s concessionaire Aramark Destinations is making additional investments in environmental stewardship by installing bike racks, cigarette disposal canisters, and dog waste stations, and have switched to entirely reusable or compostable cups, plates, utensils, and other food service ware. Zephyr is located on US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit land and is a Tahoe Blue Beach Member.

Tahoe Beach Club, located in Stateline has made shoreline stewardship its focus and also joins the Tahoe Blue Beach program as the very first private beach Member. The Club has formed its own Tahoe Blue Crew, a volunteer team that regularly cleans the beach and surrounding area. Only reusable food and drink ware is available in guest rooms, common areas, and dining spaces, and stewardship messaging appears on signage and in all communications with residents and guests. The Tahoe Beach Club also receives regular beach cleanings by the BEBOT, a sand-sifting robot owned and operated by ECO-CLEAN Solutions.

Kings Beach State Recreation Area became a participant in the program in 2025 through grant funding from the North Tahoe Community Alliance’s TOT-TBID Dollars at Work program, which reinvests funds generated in North Lake Tahoe to support community vitality, environmental stewardship, and economic health. Visitors can expect to see additional servicing for dumpsters and portable toilets, signage for the Fourth of July weekend, along with added bear-proof trash receptacles, cigarette canisters, dog waste stations, under-sand cleaning by the BEBOT, and more throughout the summer. California State Parks, who manages the beach, along with the North Tahoe Public Utility District, local businesses, and residents are key partners in the success of the program.



Meeks Bay Resort, operated by the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, joins the program as a Participant this summer. The beach has already added trash receptacles, improved restroom servicing, hosted training sessions for Keep Tahoe Blue’s citizen science programs, and made a CD3 watercraft cleaning station available for guests to Clean, Drain, and Dry their water gear to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. The resort will also increase staffing during the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend, add new wayfinding signage, and other efforts.

Like Meeks Bay Resort, Camp Richardson Resort is also on public land managed by the US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and became a Tahoe Blue Beach program Participant this year. The resort’s concessionaire, ExplorUS, is tackling litter with a BEBOT beach cleaning, by activating a dedicated Tahoe Blue Crew to conduct trash cleanups, undertaking plastic reduction initiatives, and will continue Camp Richardson Resort’s long-time participation in Keep Tahoe Blue’s annual July 5th Cleanup. Educational, stewardship, and wayfinding signage to promote responsible beach behavior is also being installed on the site.

Every beach is different, so Blue Beaches share what works with other sites to collectively raise the bar for beach management.

Even with these efforts, keeping Tahoe’s beaches clean also rests on beachgoers doing their part.

“We like to say: ‘Your pristine Tahoe beach awaits. Now it’s up to you to keep it that way’,” said Marilee Movius, Keep Tahoe Blue’s Sustainable Recreation Manager. “The best way to show your love for Lake Tahoe is to leave it better than you found it. That starts with doing the little things, like picking up after ourselves and others.”