Lake Tahoe tops the list for being the most picturesque landscape based on Instagram hashtags. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Lake Tahoe is the most picturesque landscape in the United States.
At least that is what Storyboards says. Storyboards is a company that transforms photos into 8 inch x 8 inch photo tiles.
The firm used Instagram data to analyze the number of hashtags for various landscapes in the U.S. to determine which are the most picturesque.
This comes on the heals of Family Destinations Guide earlier this year analyzing Instagram hashtag data to determine which California tourist locations are most popular. Lake Tahoe came in No. 4 in that tally.
In this latest ranking, Lake Tahoe had 2,986,225 Instagram hashtags.
Also making the list were:
- Lake Michigan—2,788,904 hashtags
- Clearwater Beach—1,298,877
- Lake Superior—1,157,663
- Lake Ontario—1,007,124
- Waikiki Beach—969,640
- Lake Norman—640,978
- Lake Huron—560,434
- Lake Powell—456,329
- Mojave Desert—429,066.
It is easy to quibble with the conclusions of all those hashtags. Maybe the numbers really represent the areas suffering most from overtourism. You know, it’s all those people inundating an area who are using hashtags.
Maybe Tahoe’s numbers are inflated because it’s such a large region.
Statista claims in 2022, globally the largest segment of Instagram users (31 percent) were between 25 and 34 years of age; ages 18-24 was the next group. So, maybe age has something to do with the results.
Don’t get me wrong. Tahoe is one of the most picturesque places in the U.S. And unlike some locations, it’s picturesque year-round.
Still, I worry about how social media is impacting tourism, and leading to overtourism—not just in Tahoe, but in so many locations. With that said, I must admit to being on Instagram and using hashtags, thus a contributor to the problem.
Yes, I have thought it ironic when locals complain about tourism while posting photos that literally market their destination
Yes, the conundrum
Your worrying is well past due. My mt bike friends and fellow hikers have seen this problem for a long time, say 15 years. The increase in tourists at all the trailheads and of course the explosion in vacation rentals was the start of Tahoe’s destruction. And of course, all the towns and tourists organizations around the lake jumped on the chance to draw in more tourist dollars. Now look where we are, trying to belatedly manage the tourists or even discourage them. Too late and too little.
My friends and I have never and will never post anything about Tahoe on the internet and we certainly would not write a book about all the favorite trails in Tahoe.