Explore Outdoors: Tahoe monkey, not bears, draws curious sightseers

BEAUTY OF LAKE TAHOE. IT’S NO SECRET THAT THERE ARE BEARS AROUND LAKE TAHOE, BUT THE PLACE I’M ABOUT TO TAKE YOU MIGHT BE THE ONLY SPOT IN TAHOE WHERE THERE’S A MONKEY. SORT OF. YOU ARE LOOKING AT MONKEY ROCK. IT SURE DOES LOOK LIKE A MONKEY. IT SURE DOES. THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF LAKE TAHOE’S MOST UNIQUE VISUAL WONDERS. WHAT IS THE ROCK LOOK LIKE? A MONKEY. AND HERE’S THE THING. THIS IS A HIDDEN GEM HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT. BECAUSE ASIDE FROM A COUPLE OF SMALL SIGNS PLACED NEAR THE TRAILHEAD, THERE’S ALMOST NO OTHER SIGNS POINTING THE WAY. YOU CAN’T SEE IT FROM THE MAIN TRAIL, AND DEFINITELY THERE’S NO SIGN PROCLAIMING YOU’RE HERE TO GET HERE. LOOK FOR THIS PARKING LOT ALONG STATE ROUTE 28 AND INCLINE VILLAGE AND THAT TINY SIGN POINTING THE WAY TO MONKEY ROCK ON FOOT. THAT SIGN WILL LEAD YOU UP TUNNEL CREEK ROAD TO WHERE THE PAVEMENT TURNS TO TRAIL. AND SOON A FORK IN THE TRAIL TURNING LEFT IS A SHORTCUT, BUT IT’S MUCH STEEPER. WHO’S THERE? HEAVY. EITHER WAY, ROUGHLY A MILE FROM WHERE THE TRAIL SPLITS IS WHERE MONKEY ROCK IS HIDDEN FROM VIEW. HERE’S THE KEY AS YOU’RE COMING UP THE TRAILS WHEN THEY MERGE, WHERE YOU SEE THIS POST, THAT IS WHERE YOU WANT TO TURN LEFT AND GO TOWARDS THE LAKE UP OVER THE RIDGE. YOU’LL SEE THE VISUAL WONDER, BUT LOCALS WILL TELL YOU DON’T CALL IT A NATURAL WONDER HOW NATURAL DO YOU THINK IT IS? DO YOU THINK IT’S NATURAL? YOU THINK SOMEBODY CARVED IT? ABSOLUTELY CARVED. I KNOW THE GUY WHO CARVED IT. YEAH. MONKEY ROCK NEAR INCLINE VILLAGE, ABOUT 500FT ABOVE LAKE TAHOE. MIKE TESELLE L FOR EXPLORE OUTDOORS. CERTAINLY DOES LOOK LIKE THAT, DOESN’T IT? YEAH. FOR MORE IDEAS TO GET OUTSIDE AND TRY TO STAY AS COOL AS YOU CAN ON THE WATER OR UNDER THE SHADE, SCAN THE QR CODE O