Truckee Donner Land Trust Acquires Summit Canyon

Summit Canyon – boon for history buffs

The Truckee Donner Land Trust has been acquiring private property and turning it over to public access for two decades. For example the TDLT has added about 2500 acres to the Donner Memorial State Park including all of Schallenburger Ridge, the ridge on the south side of Donner Lake. (See a map of TDLT park additions)

In a move that hikers, bikers, and history buffs will enjoy in perpetuity, the Land Trust has purchased the lower part of "Summit Canyon" below Donner Pass and given the public access to 260 acres from which it had been excluded. (see map)

For those who enjoy history, the canyon is important because it contains the original Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road (1864), The Lincoln Highway route (1913), and the original route of the wagon trains (1844-46). For decades it was the main route over our part of the Sierra. Later Highway 40 later took travelers around the newly acquired parcel.

With this acquisition you can get on the old Lincoln Highway at the PCT trailhead on Donner Summit (Forest Service land) and walk the easily identifiable route to Donner Lake. If you can have a car waiting at the bottom, what a great walk, as you pass the original 1867 RR tunnel, China Wall, petroglyphs, 1913 Lincoln Highway underpass, and old advertisements painted on rocks. You walk the actual route of the Lincoln Highway almost the whole way with spectacular views of Donner Lake.

The Land Trust has had its eye on Summit and Billie Mack Canyons for years because the Trust sees expanding recreational opportunities, preserving historical sites and viewsheds, and protecting watersheds as an important duty. Summit Creek and Billie Mack Canyon Creek are part of the source of the Truckee River and Donner Lake. The Trust also sees the newly acquired parcels as a natural addition to the State Park which includes Schallenburger Ridge and Lakeview Canyon.

Perry Norris, executive director of the Land Trust has been working to get the canyon for some years and the deal finally closed in the Spring of 2011 for more than $3 million. Money came from State proposition 84 money specifically set aside for park land acquisition. "It was a bear of a deal" Perry Norris said of the transaction's complexities.

The acquisition is particularly attractive because for years hikers could start at Donner Summit on USFS land and follow the old Lincoln Highway route downhill until they ran into private property with "Keep Out Rottweiler Dogs Ahead" signs placed on the trail. The owner of the land not only kept the public off of his land but also off the public right-of-way to the old routes. Members of the public had been fighting that idea, that the public could no longer access its rights-of-way, for more than a decade and there were numerous confrontations and even political intrigue. All that is no more.

Currently the land is open to public use for non-motorized activities like hiking, biking, and picnicking. Picnic tables will be installed and a set of interpretive signs and kiosks is being installed (above). Eventually a trailhead will be developed with ultimate connections to the PCT and the Donner Lake Rim Trail. Negotiations with the Forest Service about trails and connections are ongoing.

To find the new "public" lands head up Old 40 from Donner Lake. About a half mile up on the left you will see the kiosks and signs welcoming you.

See map of TDLT land acquistions for the State park, see map of the Summit Canyon acquisition.