Donner Lake Rim Trail
Truckee / Donner Lake, Tahoe NF · near Truckee · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Mountain Biking
At a glance
- Skill level
- intermediate
- Trail miles
- ~8.3 mi core bike segment; envisioned full rim loop ~23 mi
- Elevation
- ~6,900-7,700ft, ~1,200ft gain / ~1,000ft loss
- Best season
- June-October after snowmelt; higher sections hold snow later
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Mountain Biking detail
- Nickname
- DLRT
- Ride types
- xc · all-mountain
- Signature trails
- The Granite Garden · Exposed hillside singletrack · Donner Ridge descent
- Ebike
- No
- Ebike note
- Some segments cross Truckee Donner Land Trust easements that restrict Class 1 e-bikes - verify current signage before riding.
- Intl tip
- Ride clockwise from the Castle Valley trailhead for the best granite-garden vistas, and check the Truckee Trails Foundation page - a couple of segments still link by road.
The guide
A modern, purpose-built rim trail from the Truckee Donner Land Trust and Truckee Trails Foundation that rings Donner Lake with …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Donner Lake Rim Trail — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.3435, -120.282