Cave Rock is sacred to the Washoe people. Wikipedia says tribal leaders were not consulted about the highway tunnels. The old Washoe trail and Johnson's Cut-Off Road went over the rock, while the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road and the Lincoln Highway went around it.
The first tunnel opened in 1931 and carries traffic through the rock. Construction of the second tunnel began in 1957. The westbound tunnel is 153 feet long and the eastbound one is 410 feet. The tunnels sit at about 6,360 feet above sea level, about 80 feet above the lake.
In 1967 the Nevada Legislature gave the boat launch and parking area to the state park system. The U.S. Forest Service banned rock climbing equipment on February 9, 1997, and the state says climbing has been prohibited under all circumstances since September 2, 2003.