Tahoe Science Center

We have visited Tahoe regularly for 30 years. I have been meaning to visit this museum for the last 5 years, but finally did it today. I went with my 8 year old son, not too sure what to expect and how long it would hold his interest. Our guide, Tim, was fabulous. He was extremely informative, patient, and kept my son and the other child in our group completely involved (hands-​on) in the tour. We ended up spending almost 2 hours there because we all had so many questions. For someone who is interested in learning more about Lake Tahoe, this is the place for you. It is great for kids and adults. Tim was terrific! I would go again with the other members of my family as there was no way I could absorb everything he shared with us. Check it out!

Nice little science center organized mostly by UC Davis but located on the grounds of Sierra Nevada College. Docents were informative — a bit slow — but I learned a lot about my own backyard. Fun exhibits. I was tired from dragging tourists around so I accidentally fell asleep during the movie. Sorry.

Price was right: free. Time was right: about an hour. Location was right: walking distance from our unit at High Sierra.
The volunteer docent for the most part was informative. (DH thought that some of his information may have been incorrect.)
Disappointed that the 3-​D movie, the final of four stops on the tour, was not working. We saw it – just not in 3-​D.
We learned a lot about Lake Tahoe and the efforts to keep it blue. Overall it was worth a one-​time visit.

I was impressed. There is a 1-​hour docent-​led tour that includes two large science exhibits covering the evolving ecology/​geology of Lake Tahoe. They also have a very well produced 3D movie (with 3D glasses), using mostly CG animation/​simulation. The presentations are «much more technical» that at a typical science museum; as long as your kids are above average, they’ll enjoy it. The docents are scientists *and* locals; so they can tell you not only about the most recent Lake tsunami (triggered by an earthquake/​landslide), but also what the local bears were up to last week.
Enter at the sign that says «UC Davis …», and park in any of the spaces marked «UC Davis .». You can also park in the spaces marked «Sierra Nevada College,» but then you have to pick up a temporary parking permit from one of the docents.

Pretty cool place to visit with nice tour by docent. We saw replica of the Le Conte boat with some short presentations by UC Davis scientists, a small lab with microscope to find zooplanktons, and 3-​D film about how Tahoe became a lake. Overall, the tour will take about 1 hour max. Next door is Sierra Nevada University which shares with UC Davis. There is also the hatchery in Tahoe City but it’s tinier. Only go if there are docents there otherwise you can only look in and watch videos which my sister said are the same as the ones here at Incline Village.

On paper, this place sounded really interesting.
Not only is it sponsored by my alma mater, UC Davis, but it is a research center for the Tahoe basin. Seeing it advertised as a FREE museum in the local tourist guides, I thought it would be a fantastic educational experience.
Unfortunately it was as engaging as I was expecting. I’m thrilled they built a green building (LEED platinum certified) and used recycled jeans as insulation. And woo-​hoo for creating a world-​class research center for America’s second deepest lake to study and preserve the environmental quality in the area.
But, all of this doesn’t make it interesting to visit the facility. Perhaps we missed something during our visit? The docent seemed nice enough but most of the exhibits (there were only a few) need to have a guide in order to experience them. And if you show up at the tail end of a group, you’re left to wander around by yourself wondering, why are we here?
Part of my less than stellar review is that in Oregon we have the Hatfield Marine Science Center sponsored by Oregon State University. It is also a free museum dedicated to the study and preservation of the Oregon Coast. But they’ve also got great entertainment value in addition to education. With kids, it helps to sneak in those teachable moments when they are just having fun.