Editing Donner Pass (section)

{{Short description|Mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada, California}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Donner Pass
| photo = Donner Lake as seen from Donner Pass.jpg
| photo_alt = 
| photo_caption = Panorama of view to the east in July 2013 
| photo_size = 300px
| elevation_ft = 7056
| elevation_ref =
| traversed =[[California Trail]]<br /> [[Lincoln Highway]]<br />{{Jct|state=CA|US|40}} (until 1964)<br />[[Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)|Overland Route]]<br />{{Jct|state=CA|I|80}} (Indirectly, [[Donner Summit|See below]])
| location = [[Nevada County, California]], [[United States]]
| range = [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]
|coords = {{coord|39|18|52|N|120|19|37|W|type:pass|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=39.31444,-120.32694&z=17&b=t|title=Topographic map|publisher=CalTopo|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref>
| map = California
| map_size = 200
| map_alt = topographic map of California showing location on eastern boundary
| map_caption = Location in California
| topo =
}}

'''Donner Pass''' is a {{convert|7056|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}}<ref>Gannett, Henry. ''A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States'' (3rd Edition), Bulletin of the U.S. Geological Survey, No. 160, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1899. p. 54</ref> [[mountain pass]] in the northern [[Sierra Nevada]], above [[Donner Lake]] and [[Donner Memorial State Park]] about {{convert|9|mi|0}} west of [[Truckee, California]]. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west.

The pass has been used by the [[California Trail]], [[First transcontinental railroad]], [[Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)|Overland Route]], [[Lincoln Highway]] and [[Victory Highway]] (both later [[U.S. Route 40 in California|U.S. Route 40]] and still later Donner Pass Road), as well as indirectly by [[Interstate 80 in California|Interstate 80]]. The pass gets its name from the ill-fated [[Donner Party]] who overwintered there in 1846.

Today the area is home to a thriving recreational community with several [[Paternoster lake|alpine lakes]] and ski resorts ([[Donner Ski Ranch]], [[Boreal Mountain Resort|Boreal]], and [[Sugar Bowl Ski Resort|Sugar Bowl]]). The permanent communities in the area include [[Kingvale, California|Kingvale]] and [[Soda Springs, Nevada County, California|Soda Springs]], as well as the larger community below the pass surrounding Donner Lake.