Donner Lake
— — the summer lake at the foot of the hardest winter.
Not only on a wall.
“A glacial lake three miles long, sitting at the foot of the pass that took its name from the wagon party trapped here in the winter of 1846-47. In summer it turns the kind of cobalt the high Sierra reserves for the snowmelt lakes. Families launch boats from the west end, kids cliff-jump off the rocks near China Cove, and trains still cross the pass above the lake the way they have since 1868. The Pioneer Monument stands at the east end, its 22-foot pedestal marking the depth of the snow that winter. The lake doesn't carry the weight. It just shines.
Donner Lake, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
Donner Lake is a freshwater alpine lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, about three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, at an elevation of 5,936 feet. It sits in Nevada County, three miles west of Truckee and roughly eleven miles north of Lake Tahoe. The lake fills a glacial trough carved during the last ice age, dammed at its eastern end by a terminal moraine. Interstate 80 traces the north shore on its climb over Donner Summit; the older Donner Pass Road follows the south shore. Most of the eastern end sits within Donner Memorial State Park, established in 1928 to commemorate the pioneer wagon party trapped in the snow during the winter of 1846-47.
Donner Lake is glacially fed and notably deep, reaching about 330 feet at its deepest point, which gives the water its cold, clear blue. Summer surface temperatures rarely climb above the high 60s Fahrenheit. The lake supports a fishery of mackinaw, kokanee salmon, brown trout, and rainbow trout managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. China Cove, on the south shore, is the swimming hole locals know, with granite slabs that hold heat well into the evening. Public access points sit at the West End Beach and the state park beach on the east end. The lake freezes only along the shallows in hard winters; the deep water rarely fully ices over.
The Donner Pass corridor receives some of the heaviest snowfall in the contiguous United States, often more than 400 inches a season at the summit. Most lakefront cabins close from late October until May, and the West End Beach opens roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day. Summer is the lake's loud season, with boats, paddleboards, and the smell of pine pitch on warm granite. September and early October bring quiet water and aspen turning gold in the surrounding canyons. Winter shifts the action up the road to Sugar Bowl and Boreal Mountain ski resorts, while the lake itself becomes a long blue eye between drifts. The state park's visitor center stays open through the seasons and is the easiest place to begin.