Donner Pass is a
mountain passA mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above
Donner LakeDonner Lake is a freshwater lake in northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, sandwiched between Interstate 80 to the north and...
about nine miles (14 km) west of
Truckee, CaliforniaTruckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 16,180 at the 2010 census, up from 13,864 at the 2000 census.-Name:...
. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west.
To reach
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from the East, pioneer emigrants had to get their wagons over the Sierra. In 1844, the
Stephens-Townsend-Murphy PartyThe Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the...
followed the
Truckee RiverThe Truckee River is a stream in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river is about long. Its endorheic drainage basin is about , of which about are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great...
up into the mountains. At the head of what is now called
Donner LakeDonner Lake is a freshwater lake in northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, sandwiched between Interstate 80 to the north and...
, they found a low notch in the mountains and became the first overland emigrants to use the pass.
The pass received its name, however, from another group of California-bound emigrants. In early November 1846, the
Donner PartyThe Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the eastern side of the mountains. Of the 81 emigrants, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them are alleged to have resorted to
cannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
to survive.
On January 13, 1952, another group became stranded about seventeen miles (27 km) west of Donner pass at
Yuba Pass on Track #1 adjacent to Tunnel 35 (on Track #2) at about MP 176.5.
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
's passenger train
City of San FranciscoThe City of San Francisco was a streamlined passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad...
was en route westbound through the gap when a raging blizzard slowed the train to a halt. The passengers and crew were stranded for three days until the nearby highway could be plowed enough for a caravan of automobiles to carry them the few miles to Nyack Lodge.
The pass has been used by numerous transcontinental transportation arteries, including the
California TrailThe California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
,
First Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
,
Overland RouteThe Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad / Southern Pacific Railroad, between Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska, and San Francisco, California over the grade of the First Transcontinental Railroad which had been...
,
Lincoln HighwayThe Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
,
U.S. Route 40U.S. Route 40 is an east–west United States highway. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, U.S. 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the original 1920s U.S. Highways, and its first termini were San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey...
and indirectly by
Interstate 80Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
. The pass is a prominent feature along the
California ZephyrThe California Zephyr is a long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States.It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California...
passenger train.
Today the area is home to a thriving seasonal recreational community with several
alpine lakesA Paternoster lake is one of a series of glacial lakes connected by a single stream or a braided stream system. The name comes from the word Paternoster, another name for the Lord's Prayer derived from the Latin words for the prayer's opening words, "Our Father"; Paternoster lakes are so called...
and ski resorts
Donner Ski RanchDonner Ski Ranch is a budget-oriented, family owned ski area located on Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest of Nevada County, California. It is owned by Janet and Marshall Tuttle, who purchased it after it went into bankruptcy. The area it is on has been used for skiing since 1937. It has...
,
BorealBoreal may refer to*Boreal ecosystem**Boreal climate, the climate found in a region of boreal forests, and designated Dfc, Dwc or Dsc in the Köppen climate classification scheme.*boreal forest*Boreal forest of Canada*Boreal Bluet...
and
Sugar BowlSugar Bowl is a ski and snowboard area in northern Placer County near Norden, California along the Donner Pass of the Sierra Nevada, approximately west of Reno, Nevada on Interstate 80, that opened on December 15, 1939...
. The permanent communities in the area include
KingvaleKingvale is a census-designated place in Placer County and Nevada County, California, United States. The CDP straddles the border of the two counties, with Nevada County to the north and Placer County to the south. It is located near Soda Springs, west of Donner Pass. Kingvale was listed on an...
and
Soda SpringsSoda Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Nevada County, California, United States. Soda Springs is located west of Donner Pass...
, as well as the larger community below the pass surrounding Donner Lake.
Central Pacific Railroad & Donner Pass
In the spring of 1868, the Sierra Nevada were finally "conquered" by the
Central Pacific RailroadThe Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
after almost five years of sustained construction effort with the successful completion at Donner Pass of its 1,659-foot (506 m) Tunnel #6 (aka
the Summit Tunnel) and associated grade thus permitting the establishment of commercial transportation
en masse of passengers and freight over the Sierras for the first time. Following a route first surveyed and proposed by the CPRR's original Chief Engineer,
Theodore D. JudahTheodore Dehone Judah was an American railroad engineer who dreamed of the first Transcontinental Railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad...
(1826–1863), the construction of the
four tunnels, several miles of snowsheds, and two "Chinese Walls" necessary to breach Donner Summit constituted by far the most difficult engineering and construction challenge of the entire original
SacramentoSacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
to
OgdenOgden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...
CPRR route.
Principally designed and built under the personal, often on-site direction of the CPRR's Chief Assistant Engineer,
Lewis M. Clement (1837–1914), the original (Track 1) summit grade remained in daily use from June 18, 1868, when the first CPRR passenger train ran through the Summit Tunnel, until 1993 when the
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(which operated the CPRR-built Oakland-
OgdenOgden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...
line until its 1996 merger with the
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
) abandoned and pulled up the 6.7 mile (10.7 km) section of Track #1 over the summit running between the Norden complex (Shed 26, MP 192.1) and the covered crossovers in Shed #47 (MP 198.8) about a mile east of the old
flyoverAn overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
at Eder. Since then all East and Westbound traffic has been run over the Track #2 grade crossing the summit about one mile (1.6 km) south of Donner Pass through the 10,322-foot (3,146 m) long Tunnel #41 (aka
"The Big Hole") running under Mt. Judah between Soda Springs and Eder. Then operator SPRR made this change because the railroad considered Track 2 and Tunnel 41 (which was opened in 1925 when the summit section of the grade was finally double tracked) to be far easier and less expensive to maintain and keep open in the
harsh Sierra winters than the Track 1 tunnels and
snow shedAn avalanche snow bridge or simply snow bridge is a type of rigid snow-supporting structure for avalanche control . Avalanche bridges can be made of steel, prestressed concrete frames, or timber....
s over the summit.
In conjunction with major ongoing upgrades and expansions being made to the
Port of OaklandThe Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah...
in order to better accommodate the rapidly growing North American trade with Asia and the Pacific, the cooperation of the
UPRR, the Port's principal rail partner, has been sought to
"construct a second track and raise tunnel clearances over Donner Pass for container trains linking California with the rest of the country." This would likely require either a new parallel tunnel next to Tunnel 41 or the replacement of the summit section of Track 1 between the Norden complex and Shed 47; either would increase capacity and effectively eliminate delays currently caused by having to run all east and west bound traffic between Norden and Shed 47 over a single track. (To fully eliminate "bottleneck" delays the now single track 7.1 miles (11.4 km) section between Switch 9 (MP 171.9) and Shed 10 (MP 179.0) west of Cisco would likely also have to be restored to double track.) Improvements were completed on the Sierra grade in November, 2009, including increasing 18,000 lineal feet of tunnel clearances in 15 restricted tunnels between Rocklin and Truckee and upgrading 30 miles of signals to CTC, although the original Donner Pass grade (Track 1) was not restored. Since then trains of full-height (20 ft 2 inch) double-stack container cars have run over Donner Pass; some tunnels on Track 2 between Bowman and Colfax were not enlarged, so stack trains in both directions must use the older, tunnel-free Track 1 between those points.
Highways
The historic
Lincoln HighwayThe Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
, the first road across America (later U.S. Route 40 and now named Donner Pass Road), crosses Donner Pass.
Interstate 80In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 80 , a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco, California, United States. From there it heads east across the Bay Bridge to Oakland, where it turns north and crosses the Carquinez Bridge...
was constructed through this area in 1960. While I-80 generally parallels the old route of US 40 through the Sierra Nevada, I-80 crosses the Sierra crest at the
Euer Saddle, approximately two miles north of Donner Pass. Euer Saddle is also commonly called
"Donner Summit"; at 7240 feet (2,206.8 m), it is about 150 feet (45.7 m) higher than Donner Pass, but it is much wider and has a gentler approach that aided construction to
Interstate Highway standardsStandards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in the publication A Policy on Design Standards - Interstate System...
, which do not allow the
switchbacksA hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
used by the Donner Pass Road to approach its crest. The original
concreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
highway has been preserved as a scenic alternative to I-80.
Weather
Winter
weatherWeather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
in Donner Pass can be brutal.
PrecipitationIn meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
averages 54 inches (137.2 cm) per month, most of which falls as snow. At 415 inches (10.5 m) per year, Donner Pass is one of the snowiest places in the United States. To take advantage of the heavy snows, the Boreal Ski Resort was built to the north. Ski resorts in the
Lake TahoeLake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
area report an average of 300 to 500 in (7.6 to 12.7 m) of snowfall per season. Winds in the pass can also become extreme and wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour (44.7 m/s) are common during
winter stormA winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...
s. Winter temperatures in the area drop below zero several times each year; the all-time record low for California of -45 °F was recorded at the Boca Reservoir (east of Truckee) in January 1937.
In the winter of 2010-11 over 700 inches (1,778 cm) have fallen as of May 23, 2011. Snow depth peaked in early April of 2011 with over 250 inches (20.8 ft) of snow on the ground
The winter of 1846-47 was especially severe, and this is generally cited as the single most important factor in the disaster of the
Donner PartyThe Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
.
Recreation
Summer and winter offers a wide variety of recreation and lifestyle sports such as backpacking, alpine and cross-country skiing, rock and ice climbing. The region became world famous during the early 1990s from snowboard films by Fall Line Films (FFL) and
Standard FilmsStandard Films was started in 1991 and is a snowboard film company started by brothers Mike and Dave Hatchett. As of 2009 they have produced a snowboarding film every year....
for its easy access to frontcountry and backcountry terrain. However, its fame and quick access from Old Highway 40 or nearby Sugar Bowl Resort has led to a large number of avalanche fatalities including professional snowboarder Jamil Khan.
Popular culture
Albert BierstadtAlbert Bierstadt was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion...
painting "View of Donner Lake" (1871–72).
The Donner Pass was featured in the History Channel special,
America: The Story of UsAmerica: The Story of Us is a six-part, 12-hour documentary television miniseries that premiered on April 25, 2010, on History...
in the Westward Episode.
External links