Fact check: Image shows snow walls in mountainous region of Japan, not Lake Tahoe

The claim: Image shows snowfall in Lake Tahoe

A March 13 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a group of people walking on a path between two massive walls of snow.

"March 9, 2023 LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA Record snow pack," reads text above the image.

The post was shared more than 300 times in a week.

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Our rating: False

The image isn't recent and wasn't taken in Lake Tahoe. It has been circulating online for years and shows the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, a sightseeing path that cuts through a mountainous region of Japan.

Image shows snow walls on mountain path in Japan

The image shows a portion of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route where a path is carved out of the snow in the spring, creating snow walls nearly 60 feet high.

The site has been a popular tourist destination for years. In 2018, CNN reported that more than 5,000 visitors a day were expected in April and May.

The area typically opens in the middle of April. It remains open until mid-June, when the walls begin to shrink due to warmer weather, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

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A reverse image search shows the photo in the post has been online since at least 2017. Similar images of the route can be seen in multiple photos published by the Associated Press and a 2019 YouTube video.

Parts of California have received unusually heavy snow, however.

Multiple ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area were forced to close at times this winter because there has been too much snow, with more than 50 feet of snow over the past three months, the AP reported.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

The AP also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, accessed March 20, Spring

• CNN, April 23, 2018, On the ‘Roof of Japan,’ an otherworldly 17-meter-deep snow corridor

• Japan National Tourism Organization, accessed March 20, 66 feet of snow on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

• TinEye, accessed March 20, Search results

• 【公式】立山黒部アルペンルート ([Official] Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route), Jan. 20, 2019,（TKAR017）立山黒部アルペンルート空撮～春の雪の大谷編～ Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route aerial shoot "Snow Wall Spring" JAPAN

• Associated Press, accessed March 20, Search results

• Associated Press, March 11, Relentless winter brings pros, cons for Tahoe ski resorts

• Associated Press, March 14, Photo shows snow wall in Japan, not US winter storm

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Image shows snow walls in Japan, not Lake Tahoe