Donner Lake is a freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in Northeast

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on the eastern slope of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

and about northwest of the much larger

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake i ...

. A

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice sh ...

serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, between

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

to the north and Schallenberger Ridge to the south. The tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad run along Schallenberger Ridge and closely follow the route of the original

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

. The historic route of the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 191 ...

, the first automobile road across America and

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes ...

follows the northern shoreline, then climbs to

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appr ...

from where the entire lake may be viewed. Both the lake and the pass were named after the ill-fated

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

, which wintered involuntarily near the lake in 1846.

Donner Memorial State Park Donner Memorial State Park is a state park of California, US, preserving the site of the Donner Camp, where members of the ill-fated Donner Party were trapped by weather during the winter of 1846–1847. Caught without shelter or adequate s ...

is on the east end of the lake and provides campsites with access to several different beaches. There are also various hiking trails in the park.

Fishing

The lake's depth has been measured by the California State Lands Commission to be deep at its deepest point. High water level is above Mean Sea Level. Donner Lake holds some of the biggest

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

in the state. There is also a good population of rainbow and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

as well as Kokanee salmon. Fisherman use downriggers and troll with plugs for Kokanee salmon and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

in order to catch the trophy-sized lake trout. During the spring and fall lake trout come to the top to feed, and these are the only times of year one has the chance to hook a laker in shallow water. A public boat ramp operated by the Truckee Donner Recreation & Parks District is available in the northwest corner of Donner Lake. A fee is charged for boat launching. The lake is open to both powerboats and sailboats. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency ( CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluatin ...

(OEHHA) has developed an advisory for Donner Lake based on mercury and PCBs found in fish caught from this water body. Th
advisory
provides safe eating advice for fish species caught in the body of water.

Recreation

Donner Memorial State Park wraps around the East and part of the South shore of the Lake, encompassing Scallenberger Ridge to the south. Summer activities include: camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, water-skiing, wind-surfing, hiking, and mountain biking. Winter activities include cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The Park features the Pioneer Monument - welcoming visitors year round - which was built to commemorate the

traveling to California from the east in the mid-19th century. The statue itself is positioned high, which is said to be the depth snow reached during the winter of 1846 when the Donner Party failed to make it over the pass. The North shore of the Lake hosts of public docks for both swimmers and boaters. Every year the town of Truckee hosts the Donner Lake Triathlon which consists of the Sprint Triathlon: swim, bike, run and the International Triathlon: , , run.

Hiking

There are roughly of hiking trails inside the Park. Visitors can legally park in Coldstream Canyon (just past the 76 gas station) which contains the alignment of the primary Emigrant Trail, which leads up to U.S. Forest Service and the Pacific Crest trails beyond the park. Donner Lake is roughly around which also makes for a great hike.

Camping

There are 154 sites to camp at in the park and a day-use area along the lake. A lakeside interpretive trail has 18 panels which discuss the natural and cultural resources in the local area.

References

External links

*
Trailspotting: Donner Memorial State Park Trail
Hike description & photos
California State Parks:Donner LakeViews of Donner Lake, California. Photographed by R.J. Waters and Co., ca. 1915

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...