Where the Donner Party was trapped in the winter of 1846.
Donner Lake is a glacially carved lake just west of Truckee in the Sierra Nevada — a smaller, quieter alternative to neighboring Lake Tahoe, known above all for the Donner Party, the group of pioneers trapped here by an early snowstorm in the winter of 1846-47.
Donner Lake sits a few miles west of Lake Tahoe, its basin scoured by ice-age glaciers rather than the tectonic faulting that shaped Tahoe. The lake's name carries its history: in the winter of 1846-47, 87 pioneers headed for California were trapped here by an early, relentless snowstorm, and 41 of the 89 in the full party died before rescue reached them. Donner Memorial State Park, established in 1928 on the lake's east end, preserves the camp site as a National Historic Landmark, with the Pioneer Monument and a visitor-center museum covering the Donner Party, the Washoe people, and the Chinese railroad workers who later built through Donner Pass. Donner Lake Marina and Donner Lake Kitchen cover the lake's own boating and dining; Truckee, immediately adjacent, carries the wider grocery, coffee, and hospital base.
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