Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel...

THE 2001 FORD E-150 PRESENTS

H2O on the Go in the Great Outdoors:Assateague Island and Lake Tahoe

(4th in a series)

There’s nothing better than spring or summer for a driving trip, camping, and watersports all packed into one place. For this issue, our two perfect picks: Assateague Island, a barrier island getaway shared by Maryland and Virginia, and Lake Tahoe, a western water wonderland shared by California and Nevada.

Assateague Island:

Atlantic Adventures

Assateague Island delivers a driving, camping, and watersports vacation like it was in earlier decades--quiet, simple, and fun. This is Atlantic adventuring at its best.

Shared by Virginia and Maryland, Assateague Island is a 37-mile barrier island just off the coast of the Eastern Shore, a peninsula divided from the mainland by the Chesapeake Bay. Varying in width from one-third of a mile to a mile or more in some places, it once stretched all the way to Delaware. However, a 1933 storm created a channel at the resort destination of Ocean City to the north.

The entire island is protected in some way, with Assateague Island National Seashore (410-641-3030; www.nps.gov), Maryland’s Assateague State Park (410-641-2120; www.dnr.state.md.us), and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (757-336-6122; www.conco.fws.gov) all playing parts in keeping the area pristine and providing plenty of ways to play.

Undeveloped Assateague Island generally offers the only easy access to Eastern Shore beachfront, in that much of the rest of the shoreline is protected by marshland and barrier islands (many owned by The Nature Conservancy and preserved forever). This makes surf fishing, oversand beach driving, boating, shell collecting, and more all part of Assateague’s oceanfront fun. Behind the big sand dunes, pursuits include birding, hiking, biking, canoeing, camping, and many other possibilities.

The Maryland portion of Assateague Island is reached by Route 611, with Assateague State Park and Assateague Island National Seashore awaiting visitors. The Barrier Island Visitor Center, run by the National Park System, is an ideal place to stop for further information about programs, camping, and naturalist activities, as well as a small aquarium and other introductory exhibits.

Administered by Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, 680-acre Assateague State Park features more than 300 campsites, huge sand dunes, boating, hiking, biking, nature programs, and much more. It’s a great base for exploring all of Assateague Island.

The National Seashore sections provide quieter diversions, with primitive ocean and bay camping, canoeing, fishing, and deserted beachfront among activities available to visitors. Potential campers should keep in mind that summer camping here can sometimes mean little shade, mosquitoes, high winds, and full campgrounds with waiting lists. It’s best to call ahead concerning conditions.

Some sections of beachfront are available to vehicles able to go ‘oversand’ (see below). For paddlers, Maryland’s end of Chincoteague Bay is ideal for canoeing.

Drivers can only reach the southern (Virginia) end of Assateague Island by heading back to the mainland. The 50-mile distance between the two ends take about 1 1/2 hours and goes through some pretty Eastern Shore countryside.

The Virginia portion (Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge), reached by bridge from bustling Chincoteague, provides a quiet place for walking, biking, boating, fishing, and more. The Visitor Center right at the entrance to the island is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with a wide range of offerings that include interpretive walks, audiovisual programs, a narrated bus tour, birding, and more.

There’s no camping on this end of the island, but Chincoteague proper is quite popular with tent campers. A wide variety of land- and water-based activities can also be arranged in town or right on Assateague Island.

Two herds of wild horses roam Assateauge Island, separated by a fence at the Virginia and Maryland border. Made famous in the best-selling book, Misty of Chincoteague, the ‘ponies’ are generally easy to spot year-round.

Each July, the Virginia herd is rounded up by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and many of the foals are auctioned off to help raise funds. The annual ‘pony penning’ draws thousands of visitors to the area. Along with pony spotting, birdwatching is another major activity on Assateague Island.

This combination of barrier island driving, camping, and watersports provides the perfect spring or summer getaway. Assateague Island aventures await!

GETTING THERE

Assateague Island is within a one-day drive of half the population of the U.S. and just three or so hours from Washington, D.C. From the south, the Eastern Shore is reached by the 17-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (www.cbbt.com), an engineering marvel that’s worth the diversion to see and drive. Driving Tip: Off-road (ORV) zones for oversand driving are posted and maps are avaiable at visitor centers and from rangers. Permit fees are charged and vehicle specification and equipment requirments are strictly enforced (other entrance fees may also apply on various parts of Assateague Island).

Lake Tahoe:

A Western Water Wonderland

The largest alpine lake in North America, Lake Tahoe is certainly one of the best summer water wonderlands of the west. Sharing the California and Nevada borders and running 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, Lake Tahoe has almost 200 square miles of water-based fun (and the mostly sandy shoreline and mountain views are great too!).

Because two states and various tourism entities represent Lake Tahoe tourism, planning an outdoors-oriented trip there could seem a bit fragmented. However, the South Lake Tahoe, California-based Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority is a great place to start, with comprehensive information available from both their toll-free information number (800-AT-TAHOE) and website (www.virtualtahoe.com). Other helpful organizations include: the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association (800-TAHOE-4-U, www.mytahoevacation.com or www.tahoefun.org); Lake Tahoe Crystal Bay/Incline Village Visitors Bureau (800-GO-TAHOE, www.gotahoe.com); and the Reno-Tahoe Territory (800-NEVADA-8, www.renotahoe.com or www.travelnevada.com).

The third deepest lake on the continent, Lake Tahoe reaches to 1,645 feet. At depths below 700 feet and in winter months, the water’s temperature remains a constant 39 degrees (it doesn’t freeze). Summer visitors and watersports enthusiasts will be happy to know that the lake warms to a refreshing 68 degrees in the warmer months.

On land, the natural rim of Lake Tahoe is at 6,223 feet above sea level. The highest peak rising directly from the lake is Mt. Tallac at 9,735 feet, with the highest point in the Tahoe Basin (Freel Peak) at 10,881 feet. This makes for some great winter fun at many mountain resorts. However, all of these statistics mean Lake Tahoe is also unique summer destination as well.

Driving around the entire lake (72 miles) provides a great overview of the wide variety of watersports and camping options. The combination of state routes 50, 28 and 89 make it easy to find many highlights, including: California’s Pope Beach, Kiva Beach, Emerald Bay, Meeks Bay, Sunnyside Marina, Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay, and Kings Beach, as well as Nevada’s casinos (at the southern and northern statelines), Nevada Beach, Zephyr Cove, Glenbrook, Sand Harbor, Incline Village, and Crystal Bay. Nevada’s portion, the 29-mile East Shore Drive Scenic Byway, is one of the nation’s federally designated scenic byways.

Along with driving, hike along parts of the Tahoe Rim Trail (nearly 150 miles long), which completely circles Lake Tahoe, provides another introduction to the variety of the lake. Yet another great way to learn even more about the lake is aboard one of the sightseeing cruises. MS Dixie II paddlewheeler cruise personnel are full of water-based lure, including one of the most frequently-asked questions: “Where is the bridge?” Visitors think the state line drawn on the map through Lake Tahoe is a bridge.

Watersports options abound at various points on the lake, including all forms of boating (four-stroke motor vessels only), fishing, regularly scheduled (and very popular) sightseeing cruises, and more. There’s a wide variety of commercial campgrounds right on the lake, as well as inland. It’s just a matter of finding the perfect spot during pre-trip research or once there and taking a driving tour around the lake.

Once in or on the water, visitors are amazed at the visibility. The water in Lake Tahoe is 99.7% pure (about the same as distilled water). It’s so clear that something is clearly visible at 75 feet below the surface.

The weather is also generally cooperative. The sun shines on Lake Tahoe 274 days a year, with summer clothing of shorts and t-shirts the norm during the day (jackets or sweaters at night are advised). Campers should know, however, that the weather in the Sierra can be unpredictable and snowfall has been recorded in every month of the year.

Of course, it probably won’t snow on lucky Lake Tahoe visitors this summer, but the combination of driving, camping, and watersports summer fun might make it seem like Christmas in July.

GETTING THERE

Located just 36 miles southwest of Reno, Nevada, Lake Tahoe is also convenient to California’s Sacramento (98 miles) and San Francisco (200 miles). Driving Tip: Be sure to take the time to drive around the entire lake (72 miles). The combination of lake and mountain views, along with varied stops along the way, makes for one of America’s top drives.