Donner Memorial State Park - California

Address:12593 Donner Pass Road
Truckee, California
Tel: (530) 582-7892

Donner Memorial State Park was established in memory of the Donner party, a group of California-bound American settlers who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada during the "westering fever" of the 1840s. The settlers, who suffered starvation in the heavy snow of the mountains resorted to cannibalism and today many books have been written about their fateful story. Aside from a museum with great exhibits on the pioneers' wagon trains and a monument to the Donners themselves, this park has 2.5 miles of hiking trails and three miles of Lakefront adjacent to Donner Lake. Summer in the park is filled with recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing, waterskiing, and hiking as well as camping in the park's 154 campsites. In the winter, visitors can enjoy cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing on the Park's trails.

Located in the beautiful Sierra Nevada, Donner Memorial State Park offers the summer vacationer opportunities for camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, water-skiing, and hiking. In winter, visitors can cross-country ski and snowshoe on trails and enjoy the season's beauty. Visitors are welcome year-round at the Emigrant Trail Museum and at the Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate those who emigrated to California from the east in the mid-1800s. Included in the museum are displays and information about one of the earliest pioneer wagon trains, the Donner Party, forced by circumstances to camp at the east end of Donner Lake in the winter of 1846-47, resulting in human suffering and loss of life.