Kiva Beach to close Saturday for traditional Washoe Tribe cultural event

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – In support of the annual Washoe Tribal Picnic, Kiva Beach parking area and Forest Road 1311 at Heritage Way will be temporarily closed from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 17, 2024.

“We desire to reestablish our traditional gathering on the shores of Lake Tahoe during the summer as we did before contact with the non-indigenous migration,” said Tribal Chairman, Serrell Smokey. “Being the original inhabitants of these lands for thousands of years, the four Washoe Bands (Wel-mel-ti, Pau-Wa Lu, Hunga-lel-ti, and Tel-mel-ti) all gathered at Lake Tahoe for the summer months of the year.”

To ensure members of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California can effectively gather on their ancestral land, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has issued a temporary forest closure order for the parking area. Fee-free public parking is available at the nearby Kiva Picnic Area and the Taylor Creek Visitor Center.

Chairman Smokey continued, “The Washoe Tribe requested use of the beach to hold a traditional cultural event for our people to come together once again. This is a time for prayers, healing, renewals, and reconnecting with our sacred waters and families.”

Kiva Beach will remain open to the public, but we encourage visitors to be respectful of the Tribe’s cultural practice of gathering on the shore of Lake Tahoe and refrain from photographing or recording Tribal members or activities.

Signs will be placed along trails leading to the beach and deployed along the highway before and during the closure to notify the general public.

This traditional cultural event supports agency commitments to work more effectively and inclusively with Tribes that have been displaced from their traditional homelands.