The Donner Summit Historic Corridor — Lincoln Highway & Rainbow Bridge
Old Highway 40 over Donner Summit follows the original Lincoln Highway — America's first transcontinental road — past Rainbow Bridge, a 1914 railroad underpass, and the best overlook of Donner Lake.
- Category
- history
- Drive Time
- 8 min
- Distance
- 3 miles
- Season
- spring, summer, fall
What to Know
- ✓Old Highway 40 (Donner Pass Road) traces the original Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, stitched together in 1913
- ✓Rainbow Bridge — a 1926 concrete arch built on a compound curve, one of the most photographed structures in the Sierra
- ✓A 1914 auto underpass beside the Pacific Crest Trail, among the first built to carry a road beneath a railroad, with a Stephens Party monument
- ✓The Donner Lake Overlook takes in all three miles of the lake with the Sierra crest behind it
- ✓Pairs naturally with the Donner Summit railroad tunnels for a half-day of summit history
Common questions
What is the closest town to Donner Summit?
The closest town to Donner Summit is Truckee, California, about three miles east down Old Highway 40 (Donner Pass Road) — roughly a ten-minute drive. Truckee has the nearest dining, lodging, and groceries, plus Amtrak service. Donner Lake Inn, on the west end of Donner Lake, sits partway between the summit and downtown Truckee.
Above the west end of Donner Lake, Old Highway 40 — Donner Pass Road — climbs to Donner Summit along the route of the original Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, stitched together in 1913 from existing roads and the first national memorial to Abraham Lincoln. The alignment runs along the north side of the lake and past Donner Lake Inn before climbing to the summit, and it makes a spectacular slow drive or walk. The Donner Summit Historical Society documents its history, and a footpath still follows the old grade down toward the head of the lake.
Rainbow Bridge
The graceful concrete arch on Old Highway 40 at Donner Summit, completed in 1926 to replace the white-knuckle grades of the original Lincoln Highway descent. Built on a then-unprecedented compound curve, with aggregate mined from Donner Lake itself and hauled to the top, it is one of the most photographed structures in the Sierra and a frequent film and car-commercial backdrop, with long views down to the lake. More from the Truckee-Donner Historical Society.
The 1914 underpass and Stephens Party monument
Near the top, a 1914 auto underpass — among the first in the country built to carry a road beneath a railroad — survives beside the Pacific Crest Trail, along with a monument to the Stephens Party, the first wagon train to bring wagons over the Sierra, in 1844. It is a short quarter-mile walk in from the PCT trailhead off Old Donner Pass Road, with sweeping views.
Donner Lake Overlook
For the best single view of the whole lake, the Donner Lake Overlook on Old Highway 40 above the west end takes in all three miles of water with the Sierra crest behind it — about a five-minute drive up from the inn.
Make a half-day of it
The corridor pairs naturally with the Donner Summit railroad tunnels — the abandoned 1860s transcontinental railroad bores cut through the granite just above — and with the historic-route segments among the Donner-area trails, for a half-day of Sierra summit history a few minutes from the inn.