Enlarge Zoom Out | Donner Lodges | Google map Truckee - Tahoe City Topo Maps: Flora Lake, Donner Pk. - Mt. Judah, Castle Peak
Tahoe City: 36-40 min.
Sand Harbor: 50 Min
Mt. Rose 60 min.
Emerald Bay Lake Tahoe: 1 hr. 5 min.
Stateline, NV (S. Lake Tahoe): 1:18
Reno Airport: 50 mi. 45 min. - ($52 shuttle to Truckee)
Sacramento Airport: 98 mi. 1:40
San Francisco Airport: 190 mi. 3 hrs.
Donner Memorial State Park Information Center - 530-582-7892
Truckee Visitors Center (530) 587-0476 Truckee.com 10065 Donner Pass Road
Donner Summit Economic Development Survey at 216.117.183.10/nevco_housing/donner_survey2_map.asp
Activities:
Exhibits Museums:
Donner Memorial State Park Information Center 530.582.7892
USDA Forest Service Big Bend Visitors Center 530.426.3609
Gatekeeper Museum Tahoe City
Sights at Tahoe
Donner Summit Historical Society visitors center corner of Donner Pass Rd (Old 40) and and Soda Springs Rd.
Lake Mary Dinners (summer 2010) by Sugar Bowl
See: Free Day Activity Page
Outdoor Activities:
List of hikes / trails
Birding
Perseid Meteor Shower Information (Aug. 12 every year)
Donner Ski Ranch
Sugar Bowl Ski Area.
Royal Gorge ("North America's largest cross country ski resort")
Lodging:
Donner Lodges
- Sierra Club Clair Tappaan Lodge.
- Cal Lodge
- Ice Lakes Lodge, Serene Lakes, 530-426-7661, 1111 Soda Springs Road, Soda Springs.
- Truckee
Restaurants:
Restaurants in Truckee, 15 mi. from CTL
Ice Lakes Lodge, Serene Lakes, 530-426-7661, 1111 Soda Springs Road, Soda Springs 3.5 mi. from CTL.
Rainbow Lodge, (530) 426-3661, 50080 Hampshire Rocks Rd. Soda Springs (Cisco Grove), 9 mi. from CTL
Donner Summit Lodge (DSL)(Fred's Hof Brau), 22002 Donner Pass Rd., 426-3638, 6 AM - 10 PM
Bar & Grills:
Donner Ski Ranch Bar & Grill (530) 426-3635, M-F 11-8, S-S 8-8
19320 Donner Pass Road
Tinkers Station Bar-Grill-Hostile 436-3264 21728 Donner Pass Rd
Summit Restaurant & Bar, (DSL - Donner Summit Lodge) (530) 426-3904
22002 Donner Pass Rd.
Shopping - Services:
Soda Springs General Store - 21719 Donner Pass Rd. - 1.1 mi. (530) 426-3080 - 8 AM - 7 PM
Beacon Gas - Foodmart, Soda Springs, CA, (530) 426-9041, 8-9:45
Cheveron - mini-mart - I-80 Exit 165, Cisco Grove - (530) 426-3570 - 10.5 mi.
Truckee
Tahoe Forest Hospital. (530) 587-6011 Emergency-(530) 582-3206
10121 Pine Avenue, Truckee
Albertsons - Hwy 89 S. & Deerfield Rd. (Crossroads Shopping Center), Truckee - (530) 587-5522 - 13 mi. -
Longs Drugs - Hwy 89 S. & Deerfield Rd. (Crossroads Shopping Center), Truckee - (530) 587-5770 - 13 mi.
Rite Aid, 11230 Donner Pass Rd. (Gateway Shopping Center), Truckee, (530) 587-5298 - 13 mi.
Safeway - 11290 Donner Pass Rd (Gateway Shopping Center), Truckee (530) 582-7950 - 13 mi.
See Truckee for more
Post Office™:
21719 DONNER PASS RD., SODA SPRINGS, CA. 96728
Mon-Fri 9:00am-4:00pm
Weather:
Weather forecasts don't necessarily agree. The Weather Channel seems to be the best.
For July 22-27, 2012:
The Weather Channel says the high is 76 low is 47
https://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Norden+CA+USCA0773:1:US
AccuWeather says the high is 79 low is 44
https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/norden-ca/95724/daily-weather-forecast/2167268
The Weather Underground says the high is 82 low is 34
https://www.wunderground.com/
Calif. California SNOTEL - CSS Station Soda Springs snow depth from NRCS.USDA.gov
CSS Lab near Soda Springs (5 day precip)
| Month | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
| Avg. High °F | 60° | 46° | 39° | 39° | 42° | 46° | 52° | 61° | 70° | 78° | 77° | 71° |
| Avg. Low °F | 26° | 20° | 14° | 14° | 16° | 20° | 24° | 29° | 34° | 37° | 37° | 32° |
| Record Low | 7° | -10° | -28° | -21° | -33° | -9° | -3° | 10° | 18° | 24° | 25° | 16° |
| Avg. Precip. (in.) | 2.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| Snow - Soda Springs 1961-1998 | ||||||||||||
| Avg. snowfall (in.) | 0 | 52 | 53 | 104 | 57 | 77 | 51 | 13 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Avg. snow depth | 0 | 3-18 | 18-45 | 40-80 | 80-100 | 90-105 | 90-50 | 50-10 | 10-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
See the news page for local print and TV news sources.
Gas (Prices as of June 4, 2006):
Beacon - Food Mart, 21719 Donner Pass Rd. & I-80 Soda Springs (exit 174)- 1.5 mi (530) 426-3080 - 8 AM - 7 PM
76 - Donner Pass Rd. & I-80 (exit 184) - 12 mi. (10¢ cheaper than Soda Springs)
Cheveron - Donner Pass Rd. & I-80 (exit 184) - 12 mi. (10¢ cheaper than Soda Springs)
Valero - Cisco Grove I-80 (exit 165) - 10.5 mi. - Open 24 hrs.
See Gas Prices for more current prices.
MAPS:
List of Topo and trail maps on the Donner - N. Tahoe Trails page.
Donner Summit map at this site
History:
1830's and 40's - Mountain men such as Kit Carson and Joseph Walker explore different
routes over the Sierra Nevada.
1844 - Stephens-Murphy-Townsend Party first wagon train crossing of Donner Pass.
1848 - California won from Mexico
1848 - Gold discovery at Sutters Mill in coloma
1849 - 85,000 people migrated to California during the height of the gold rush
40,000 came by ship, 15,000 via Mexico, and 30,000 by the California Trail
1850 - California becomes a state
1852 - Population 223,856
1861 - Transcontinental telegraph
1864 - Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road DF&DLWR
1869 - Central Pacific Railroad completed - First transcontinental railroad.
1913 - Lincoln highway
1914 - Transcontinental Telephone
1927 - US 40 completed over roughly the same route as the Lincoln Hwy.
Rainbow bridge built
1936-38 - Rope tows at Lake Mary (Mt. Judah) and Clair Tappaan Lodge
1964 - Last section of interstate 80 over the summit completed.
1996 - Rainbow bridge rebuilt
See History of transportation to California and timeline for more information.
Wagon, Highway & Railroad Routes
Rainbow Bridge:The rainbow bridge, built in 1927, was restored and basically rebuilt in 1996 largely thru the efforts of Norm Saylor, operations manager at Donner Ski Ranch, who helped get financing thru a Transportation Enhancement Activities grant to save it.
They were considering several options including filling in the gap and not replacing it so the old highway would no longer be a thru road.
See Also: Bear on the Rainbow Bridge
Searching Donner Summit - Successful Search and Rescue effort for lost lost snowshoer near Peter Grubb Hut - March, 2010
Information:
California - Nevada Chapter of the Oregon - California Trails Association (OCTA)
Petroglyphs
Books:
- The Tahoe Sierra: A Natural History Guide to 112 Hikes by Jeffrey P. Schaffer
- Howard, Thomas Frederick, "Sierra Crossing -- First Roads to California." (1998)
- McGlashan, C.F., "History of the Donner Party, A Tragedy of the Sierra." (1940/1975)
- Konigsmark, Ted, "Geologic Trips, Sierra Nevada." (2002)
- Reid, Robert Leonard, "A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada." (1983)
- Schaffer, Jeffrey P., "The Tahoe Sierra, A Natural History Guide." (1975/1998)
- Sierra Nevada Natural History by Tracy I. Sorer and Robert L. Usinger.
- Wildflowers of the Tahoe Sierra by Laird R. Blackwell.
- Geology of the Sierra Nevada by Mary Hill
- History of the Sierra Nevada by Francis Farquhar.
- My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir.
See books at the transportation routes page.
Links:
Soda_Springs at: SierraOutdoorRecreation.com here
Donner Summit Historical Society
Transportation and Distances at the Clair Tappaan Lodge page
Hikes
Lake Tahoe NW
Emergency Services in the Tahoe Area
Tahoe Backcountry Ski Patrol (TBSP)
I-80 in the Sierra Nevada (Maps, Stores, ..) (Soda Springs, Donner Lake, Truckee, Gas Prices)
Calif. History
History of transportation to California.
Wagon, Highway & Railroad Routes
Summit Tunnel at the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
The Donner Party