Donner Pass

July 26, 2019

Donner Pass Summit Tunnel Historical Landmark

GPS: 39.316582, -120.330540

Theodore Judah was a man with a dream, and his was to build a railroad through the Central Pacific, routed via the Sierra Nevada mountains. In the mid-19th century, the civil engineer surveyed a large stretch of the route to be used and found funds to make the transcontinental railroad a reality.

A key part of this route lies at Donner Pass, where the first wagon train made its way into California. A series of now-abandoned tunnels were completed in August 1867. Opened on November 30, 1867, and the first train passed through it in 1868. Unfortunately Judah did not live to see this happen; he died in 1863 during an eastbound voyage in connection with his dream project.

The tunnels at Donner Pass were constructed by Chinese laborers and took more than 15 months of hard work to finish. The dozen tunnels were some of the most treacherous parts of the transcontinental railroad, linking the rail networks of Omaha, Nebraska, to the West Coast at Oakland. They were constructed through the use of hand drilling, black powder, and nitroglycerin (leading to an untold number of worker deaths).

The tunnels were used by trains from the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Amtrak for 125 years, until 1993 when the line was rerouted through a new tunnel running through Mount Judah, named after the railroad pioneer.

The Donner Pass and the tunnels are named after the Donner Party, a group of explorers en route to California who became stranded in the Sierra Nevada region due to heavy snow and resorted to cannibalism to survive.

The tunnel and snow sheds now sit abandoned and, despite being on private property, are a popular place for curious hikers and snowshoers.

Tunnel #6, which took tens of thousands of hours to complete, is the most famous of the tunnels.

Tunnels #7 and #8,

along with the China Wall Historical Landmark.

The stone retaining wall, built by Chinese railroad workers to support the Central Pacific Rail Road tracks, as they transitioned between two tunnels.

A walk through the dark tunnels, with light pouring in only at points where the wall has openings, can be an eerie experience.

As you walk through the tunnel and transition into the snowshed where you can see copious amounts of graffiti.

there is an service door allowing access to the snowshed, exiting the snowshed there is a great view of Donner Lake.

Donner Lake Overlook and Donner Summit Bridge

GPS: 39.318575,-120.318550

Native American Petroglyphs Site

GPS: 39.317560,-120.320471

Native American Petroglyphs Site can also be found nearby and are marked with a plaque.

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