Please come and enjoy our new Visitor Center!

Open 10:00am - 5:00pm everyday.

Welcome to the Sierra

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 Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center and at the Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate those who emigrated to California from the east in the mid-1800's.  The Visitor Center features compelling new exhibits that tell the stories of the Emigrant Experience, the Donner Party, the Land of the Washoe, Chinese construction of the railroad, and early motoring adventures over Donner Pass.

The park encompasses Schallenberger Ridge to the south of Donner Lake. In and around the park you can see some of the Sierra Nevada's geologic history:

The granite that rose within the crust of the earth in enormous bubbles, then cooled and hardened, to be exposed by erosion.

The older sedimentary rocks, transformed by temperature and pressure.

The Sierra's steep eastern face, created when gigantic upheavals tilted a section of the earth's crust.

The glaciers that dominated the area a few thousand years ago have left huge boulders and debris that remained when the ice melted.

Camping Information

The  campground is closed. Camping reservations will resume for Memorial Day, 2017, at 1-800-444-7275.

Campsites are $35 per night; a map of the campground is available by clicking the Brochures icon at the top of this page.

Food Storage Locker Information
Metal bear-resistant food lockers are provided in each campsite. All food, beverages, and toiletries are required by law to be stored in provided food lockers. The inside dimensions of the food lockers are 36" deep, 43" wide, and 28" high. Violators will be cited.

Location - Directions

The park is 100 miles east of Sacramento via Interstate 80, and is within the town of Truckee,  just west of downtown on the south side of the freeway.

Seasons/Climate Recommended Clothing

Summer temperatures range from about 75 degrees during the day to the low 40s at night, and winter temperatures average from a high of 40 to a low of 20 degrees.

Visitor Attractions

Public Boat Ramp
While the park has no boat launching ramp, a public ramp operated by the Truckee Donner Recreation & Parks District is available in the northwest corner of Donner Lake. There is a fee charged for boat launching. For information call (530) 582-7720. The lake is open to both power and sail boats.

Fishing
The park has over three miles of frontage on Donner Lake and Donner Creek. Although the fishing is not usually spectacular, the lake has some kokanee and planted trout. A fishing license is required. (Many fishermen prefer to use the park as a base to visit nearby lakes).

Hiking Trails
The park has over 8 miles (12.9 km) of hiking and over-the-snow trails.  Park property in Coldstream Canyon to the south contains the alignment of the primary Emigrant Trail, which leads up to U.S. Forest Service and the Pacific Crest trails beyond the park.  Maps are for sale at the Emigrant Trail Museum.

Camping and Day Use
Located at Donner Memorial State Park is a campground of 154 sites and a day-use area along the lake with picnic tables, restrooms, a beach, fishing, and a lakeside interpretive trail that has 18 panels which discuss the natural and cultural resources in the area.

Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center
Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center, located at Donner Memorial State Park, takes about 1 hour to visit.  It depicts the history of the area and the people who came into this part of the Sierra, including local Native Americans, the Donner Party, and builders of the transcontinental railroad.  Postcards, posters, maps, and books about the human and natural history of the area are for sale at the museum.

Pioneer Monument
Near the Visitor Center is the Pioneer Monument. Dedicated to the pioneers who crossed the Sierra on their way to the west, it stands on the spot where the Schallenberger, and later the Breen, cabin once stood. California Historical Landmark #134 it was completed on June 6th 1918, and sits atop a 22 foot pedestal and faces westward toward Donner Pass. 

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