D. L. Bliss State Park is located on the western shore of Lake Tahoe just north of Emerald Bay State Park. Notable features include Rubicon Point Light, the highest-elevation lighthouse in the United States. A popular trail in the lakeside forest features a large balancing rock. The park is named in honor of timber and railroad magnate Duane Leroy Bliss, whose heirs donated 744 acres of land to the state in 1929. It has since grown to 2,149 acres.
Visitors enjoy scuba diving and swimming in the crystal clear water of Lake Tahoe, picnicking, relaxing on the warm sand of Lester Beach or Calawee Cove, and hiking the Rubicon Trail, Lighthouse Trail, and Balancing Rock Trail. Lester Beach is a popular location to launch your kayak, paddleboard, or canoe, but keep in mind that trailers are not allowed in the day use parking lots. From promontories such as Rubicon Point in D.L. Bliss State Park you can see over one hundred feet into the depths of Lake Tahoe.
The Balancing Rock, "tons of granite resting precariously on a slender stone base", has long been a natural attraction on Lake Tahoe's western shore. Visitors to the Lake Tahoe area in the late 1800s and early 1900s enjoyed being photographed next to this geological marvel. Today, the Balancing Rock is the feature attraction of a short, half mile self-guided nature trail in the northwest section of D.L. Bliss State Park. The granite of this large rock began weathering more rapidly at the joint plane, an extensive horizontal crack that is easily seen at its "waist". The overlying rock weighs around 130 tons and is now balanced on the rock below. This precarious remnant of granite rock will eventually fall when enough material has eroded away to break the equilibrium between the two pedestals.
Dogs are not allowed. This park closes in the winter. Fee to enter.