Tahoe's Only Island

In all of Lake Tahoe’s 22-mile length and 12-mile breadth, its 191 square miles of surface water and 72 miles of shoreline, there is only one island. Named Fannette Island, it is a smallish, sparsely timbered, brush-covered mass of granite that rises 150 feet above the water, amidst the spectacular scenery of Emerald Bay.

Massive glaciers scoured the Sierra Nevada during the Pleistocene Epoch, carving deep canyons here...depositing vast amounts of soil and rock there...creating present-day Emerald Bay. Geologists believe that when those glaciers retreated millennia ago, this rocky landform remained as a vestigial leftover because it was a resistant rib of granite the glacial ice overrode and sculpted, but didn’t destroy.

Nor was it always called Fannette. Over the past 100 years it has been called Coquette, Baranof, Dead Man’s Isle, Hermit’s Isle, and Emerald Isle. Fannette Island just happened to be the name that stuck.

It might even be haunted.

Over the decades Fannette Island has been the site of three man-made amenities. Captain Richard “Dick” Barter, a local hermit who lived alone on the island from 1863 – 1873, built a small chapel there, and, anticipating his mortal end, a tomb for himself. He was not buried in it, however, because his body was never recovered after his dingy was found smashed to pieces following a storm on October 18, 1873. Both structures are long gone, although documented with 1870s photographs.

The ruins of the island’s “Tea House,” or at least its stone walls, is still standing. Looking somewhat like a miniature castle, it was constructed in 1928-29 by Lora J. Knight—then one of the wealthiest women in America—during the same time period she was building a massive, Scandinavian-style, 38-room mansion on the shores of Emerald Bay, a summer home she named Vikingsholm. The tiny 16 by 16-foot island structure, which originally contained a small fireplace in one corner and an oak dining set, served as a fanciful retreat: after being transported to the island by motorboat Mrs. Knight and her guests would often be served tea in the little stone house.

Today, Fannette Island is a popular in-season attraction, for visitors who are exploring Emerald Bay State Park. Accessible by boat, canoe, or kayak, it is a day-trip activity— camping, and dogs, are prohibited. Swimming to the island is not allowed, either, due to the hazards of extremely cold water and boat traffic in the area.

Those intrepid tourists who make the effort to visit this rocky little isle can hike all over its rugged surface, and on up to the ruins of the Tea House at its east end. There, they are rewarded with spectacular, breathtaking, panoramic views of Emerald Bay, the lake, and the majestic Sierra Nevada surrounding it all.