If you really want to see the true beauty of the Truckee area and the Sierra Nevadas, the best way to do it is on foot.  Some of the most beautiful areas of the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region aren't easy to get to.  A great example is the North Fork of the American River in the "Royal Gorge".  One of my close friends, Shawn Bratcher, and I have made a couple of overnight backpacking trips to this area.

We access the area using the Palisades Creek Trail which starts at the trail head between Cascade Lakes and Long Lake.  It is a 7 mile hike from the trail head to the North Fork of the American River with 2200 feet of elevation change.  The first couple of miles the terrain is very rocky with limited vegetation.  There are gorgeous views of the surronding peaks, particularly Devil's Peak, Castle Peak, and Tinker's Knob.  The middle section of the trail takes you threw fairly thick vegetation.  Most of it is pine trees and various shrubs with a mixture of redwood trees here and there.  The bottom third of the trail is where you approach Palisades Creek and, ultimately, the North Fork of the American River.  This section is quite a bit steeper and the vegetation remains pretty thick.  You'll start to see a lot more tall grasses and oak trees, and you have to be cautious of rattle snakes and poison oak.

This trail can be done as a day trip, but I highly recommend spending at least 1 night down at the river.  It is an incredibly beautiful area with waterfalls as large as 60 feet and numerous pools for swimming and relatively safe areas for cliff jumping.  There are a handful of established camp sites, but otherwise not many signs of people.  It is truly one of my favorite spots to visit.