Marina · California

Tahoe Keys

Name: Tahoe Keys
Address: US

256 slips in a residential canal grid · canal mouth shoals to 9 ft at low water · year-round private. 40-ft mast cap under US-50 bridge. Marina lot bans RVs — Campground by the Lake 1.2 mi east is the rig basecamp.

Slips: 256 slips
RV staging: 0 dedicated spots
Water body: Lake Tahoe

Private operatoryear-round tenureLake TahoeCited .gov + operator sources

The rig-decision numbers

Slip capacity

256 slips

Max vessel length

40 ft LOA

Public ramp lanes

2 lanes

Channel depth · low water

9 ft

On-site services

Marine fuel

Available

Vessel pumpout

Available

Oversize / RV lot

Car-only lot

RV dump station

None on site

Overview

Tahoe Keys is California's only Lake Tahoe marina built inside a year-round private canal system — 256 wet slips threaded through a 720-home residential lagoon grid carved in the early 1960s from what was once the Truckee Marsh delta on the south shore. The channel-depth honesty matters because it constrains every booking decision: the canal entrance shoals to 9 ft at the late-September seasonal low pool, and the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association is permitted to dredge biennially under a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Environmental Improvement Program permit. The 2022 TRPA Aquatic Weed Control Method Test FEIR documented the basin's recurring Eurasian watermilfoil and curlyleaf pondweed infestations, which have driven a $20 million multi-year herbicide-plus-UV-light treatment regime that closes portions of the West Lagoon to recreational craft on a rolling weekly schedule between May and October — slip-renters check the TRPA control-zone map before launching. Sailboats with a fixed mast above 40 ft cannot clear the US-50 highway bridge that gates the canal mouth, which caps the marina's bookable vessel-length to 40 ft LOA across all 256 slips (one of the strictest LOA caps among California's high-volume marinas). The fuel dock holds gasoline and ethanol-free premium year-round but ice-in typically forces a four-week January closure when the canal surface freezes solid enough to crush the floating fuel-hose hardware; pumpout stays open through the freeze under a heated-hose arrangement. The marina lot prohibits RV and oversize-trailer parking outright — no signage exception — and the closest legal oversize-vehicle staging is the City of South Lake Tahoe's Campground by the Lake on US-50 (1.2 mi east, 35-ft rig cap, 50-amp electric, May through October only). For longer rig cap or shoulder-season staging, USFS Tallac Historic Site staff direct visitors to William Kent Campground on the west shore (USFS, dry only, 35-ft cap) or to private RV resorts in Meyers 8 miles south on US-50.

Where to park the rig

Operator class

Private operator

Marina-lot RV staging

0 dedicated spots · car-only

Closest RV-friendly campground

Campground by the Lake (South Lake Tahoe city park, 35-ft cap, electric) · no on-site dump

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Primary sources

Other marinas in California

Two Harbors Mooring Field

700 mooring balls · 75-ft cap · 60 ft inside Isthmus Cove · largest mooring field on the California coast. No auto ferry to Catalina — stage rig on mainland and ferry as foot passenger. Tender boat handles fuel + pumpout on radio request.

Shelter Island Marina

565 slips · 200-ft cap · 25 ft basin · highest single-day launch volume on the US West Coast (4 lanes). Yields to Navy fleet per Port-Navy protocol. Mission Bay RV Resort 5 mi NW · 50-amp · 45-ft cap.

Tahoe City Marina

188 slips · north-shore public access · zero ramp lanes (launch 1.5 mi south at USFS Lake Forest, 3 lanes, $20). 6–8 year wait list for annual slip. William Kent USFS Campground 2 mi south is the rig basecamp.

California rules · last verified 2026-05-10

State rental tax: 9.75% · not collected by PickRV
Min driver age: 21+ std · 25+ Class A
Gravel roads: Permit required
Generator quiet: 22:00-06:00