Is Donner Pass open right now?
Open, no chain controls
As of Sat 3:59 PM PT, I-80 over Donner Pass is open with no chain controls in effect (Caltrans).
- NoneEastbound · to Truckee and RenoNo chain controls
- NoneWestbound · to SacramentoNo chain controls
- [BUSINESS 80 - CAPITAL CITY FREEWAY] No traffic restrictions are reported for this area.
- Is closed westbound to all tractor-semitrailer combinations from the Nevada State Line to 4.7 mi west of Kingvale - Due to snow - All tractor-semitrailer combinations are advised to use an alternate route
Other routesHwy 267 Brockway Summit: no chain controlsHwy 89 to Tahoe City: no chain controls
Updated 3:59 PM PT · source: Caltrans (report as of Saturday 03:59 PM)
Confirm on QuickMap or at 1-800-427-7623 before you drive.
Full Caltrans text
- Is closed westbound to all tractor-semitrailer combinations from the Nevada State Line to 4.7 mi west of Kingvale (Placer Co) - Due to snow - All tractor-semitrailer combinations are advised to use an alternate route
- [BUSINESS 80 - CAPITAL CITY FREEWAY] No traffic restrictions are reported for this area.
The live report at the top of this page is the Caltrans status for Interstate 80 over Donner Summit: whether the pass is open, the chain-control level in each direction (none, R1, R2 or R3), and any holds, screening or wind restrictions, with the time of the last Caltrans check. It refreshes every few minutes. Always confirm with Caltrans (QuickMap or 1-800-427-7623) before you drive; conditions on the pass change faster than any page.
Donner Pass cameras: I‑80 live, westbound and eastbound
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Kingvale I-80 westbound · 6,128 ft -
Soda Springs I-80 eastbound · 6,692 ft -
Donner Summit I-80 eastbound · 7,221 ft -
Donner Lake (Exit 180) I-80 westbound · 6,394 ft
Caltrans District 3 runs traffic cameras along I-80 over Donner Pass. The four on this page run west to east in driving order, Kingvale, Soda Springs, the summit and the Donner Lake exit, and update about once a minute. Click any camera for the Caltrans page, or open Caltrans QuickMap for every camera on the route. Summit blank or white? Kingvale, a thousand feet lower, shows where the snow line is.
Every I-80 camera on QuickMap →Chain control or a closure on the pass? 5 rooms, about 4 miles below it.
Exit 180. Same-day arrivals usually work. Chains sold and installed next door at the Donner Lake Gift Shop. A real person answers.
Are chains required on Donner Pass today?
No: no chain controls on I-80 over the pass as of 3:59 PM PT.
The top of this page shows the current Caltrans level for each direction of I-80 over Donner Pass, read from the District 3 chain-control sensors and the Caltrans highway report every five minutes: no chain controls, R1, R2 or R3, and the stretch of highway it covers. Where the two disagree the page shows the stricter one and says so. Checkpoints sit at Kingvale eastbound and at the Donner Lake and Truckee interchanges westbound; on storm days they add a queue even when the pass is open.
Chains are sold and installed next door to the inn at the Donner Lake Gift Shop, 15688 Donner Pass Rd. How to carry, buy and fit them is in the getting-here guide and the winter travel FAQ.
What R1, R2 and R3 mean
- R1 Chains, or snow tires on two drive wheels In effect now
Chains on all vehicles except passenger cars and light trucks under 6,000 lb with snow-tread tires on at least two drive wheels. Vehicles on snow tires must carry chains; anything towing must chain one drive axle.
- R2 Chains on all but 4WD/AWD with snow-tread tires In effect now
Chains or traction devices on all vehicles except 4WD/AWD with snow-tread tires on all four wheels — and those must carry chains. Snow-tread means M+S, M/S or MS on the sidewall, which most all-season tires are. The most common level on the pass.
- R3 Chains on everything In effect now
Chains or traction devices on all vehicles, no exceptions. Caltrans usually closes the pass before it reaches R3.
Posted signs and the officers at the checkpoint have the final say (Caltrans chain controls). Staying for the storm? The Donner Summit resorts are 15 minutes up the hill — see ski lodging at the base of Donner Summit.
Donner Pass weather today: summit forecast, snow, wind advisories and high‑profile vehicle warnings
Caltrans posts high-wind advisories for I-80 over Donner Summit that recommend against travel for campers, trailers, box trucks and other high-profile vehicles, and the National Weather Service issues Wind Advisories and High Wind Warnings for the summit zones. Both appear on this page as soon as they are posted: at the top of the page, and in the watches and warnings and high-profile vehicle cards in the weather section.
- This Afternoon37°Widespread Frost
- Tonight25°Mostly Cloudy then Widespread Frost
- Sunday38°Mostly Sunny then Chance Rain And Snow
- Sunday Night28°Rain And Snow
Areas of frost before 4pm, then widespread frost and patchy fog. Mostly sunny. High near 37, with temperatures falling to around 32 in the afternoon. West southwest wind around 6 mph.
National Weather Service point forecast for the summit itself (NWS Sacramento), refreshed with the road report. The summit runs colder and windier than the Truckee outlook below.
- Winter Weather Advisory until Mon 10:00 PM PT — Sierra Nevada above 5,000 ft including I-80 (NWS Sacramento)
- Winter Weather Advisory until Mon 7:00 PM PT — Greater Lake Tahoe area (NWS Reno)
Zones: NWS Sacramento, Sierra Nevada above 5,000 ft including Interstate 80; NWS Reno, Greater Lake Tahoe Area.
No Caltrans high-wind advisory is in effect on I-80 over Donner Summit as of 3:59 PM PT.
Caltrans wind restrictions for campers, trailers, box trucks and RVs, from the I-80 highway report.
Wind matters as much as snow on this pass; the summit takes gusts that close the road to trailers while the lake below is calm. On Donner Lake itself an afternoon west wind builds most summer days, and NWS Reno’s Lake Wind Advisories cover it for boaters and paddlers.
Donner Pass traffic right now
Caltrans’ own QuickMap, live and centered on the pass: chain-control checkpoints, cameras, CHP incidents and closures. The Caltrans report at the top of the page is the official word.
When it backs up: eastbound Friday afternoon and evening and on holiday-weekend mornings; westbound Sunday afternoon into the evening, worst between Truckee and Colfax, and again late on a holiday Monday. On storm days the checkpoints add queues even when the pass is open — eastbound around Kingvale, westbound at the Donner Lake and Truckee interchanges — and Truckee’s Highway 89 and 267 junctions back up whenever the ski resorts let out.
If chain control or a closure catches you
Wait it out
Most I-80 closures over Donner Pass last a few hours (spinouts, jackknifed trucks, avalanche control) and traffic is held at Colfax or Applegate westbound-side and at Truckee or Reno eastbound-side; waiting usually beats detouring.
Alternate routes when I-80 closes
For a long closure the alternatives are US-50 over Echo Summit (7,382 ft) to South Lake Tahoe, then Highway 89 or 28 around the lake to Truckee, roughly two hours longer from Sacramento; or Highway 88 over Carson Pass (8,574 ft) to Minden, then US-395 to Reno and I-80 west into Truckee, longer still. The honest note: both usually go to chain control or close in the same storms.
Stay below the pass
Donner Lake Inn is at the west end of Donner Lake, about 4 miles below the pass on the Truckee side, Exit 180. 5 rooms with private entrances, a gas stove in each, breakfast included, and a creekside hot tub that runs all winter. We can usually take same-day arrivals.
Call and a real person answers; if we’re full we’ll tell you who nearby isn’t. Road questions go to Caltrans at 1-800-427-7623.
Donner Pass Road (Old Highway 40) conditions: the lake road, not the interstate
Donner Pass Road is not the interstate. It is the two-lane historic highway (old US 40, the Lincoln Highway alignment) that runs the length of Donner Lake’s north shore from Truckee, passes Donner Lake Inn at the west end of the lake, then climbs the switchbacks past Rainbow Bridge to Donner Pass, Sugar Bowl and Donner Ski Ranch before rejoining I-80 at Soda Springs. I-80 is the through route over the summit. Donner Pass Road is plowed in winter as the ski-area access road, but it closes in heavy storms and when I-80 shuts it is closed to through traffic rather than used as a bypass. It also closes for rockfall: a 2023 slide shut the stretch between the lake and the pass from June until Labor Day. The lake and switchback segments are maintained by the Town of Truckee and Nevada County; the county posts closures on its Road Conditions and Closures page (none listed when we last checked, September 8, 2026).
The I-80 exit for the lake is signed Donner Lake (Exit 180) and drops you onto Donner Pass Road at the west end of the lake, two minutes from the inn. The road’s history, overlooks and the Donner Summit Bridge (Rainbow Bridge) are in our Donner Summit historic corridor guide.
Truckee road conditions: Highway 89 and 267
Truckee’s streets, including the Donner Lake neighborhoods inside the town limits, are plowed by the Town of Truckee; arterials first, side streets after. The two state routes out of town are Caltrans roads with their own chain controls: Highway 89 south to Tahoe City and Palisades, and Highway 267 over Brockway Summit (7,179 ft) to Northstar and Kings Beach, which typically goes to chain control in the same storms as Donner. County roads outside town are Nevada County’s.
- Highway 267 over Brockway Summit (Truckee–Kings Beach): no chain controls
- Highway 89 south (Truckee–Tahoe City): no chain controls
Caltrans District 3 sensors at the Truckee junctions, checked every five minutes.
Sources
- Caltrans QuickMap Live statewide map of chain controls, closures, incidents and cameras
- Caltrans highway information The text report this page quotes · 1-800-427-7623
- CHP Truckee on Facebook Closures, spinouts and holds as they happen
- NWS Reno Donner Lake, Truckee and the Greater Lake Tahoe zone
- NWS Sacramento The summit forecast zone, above 5,000 ft
- Nevada County road closures Old 40 and county roads