The Truckee Basin is perfectly situated to rest and provision travelers before they head over the mountains or for them to recuperate after completing the journey from the west. Truckee has always had a great source of water as the Truckee River is Lake Tahoe’s only outlet. So development along this pretty stretch of river, adjacent to the trail that goes over what is now called Donner Summit was inevitable. I like to think that Truckee is to the Sierra Nevadas what Kathmandu is to the Himalayas, only without quite as many amazing wall carvings and about 984,000 fewer people. Naturally adventurers these days aren’t as worn out as those who traveled through here during the 1880s, which is where Truckee’s current recreation culture and nightlife come in. It is one lively town by heritage, as Truckee’s history has always had a lively and raucous nature. And that makes for one of those great California settlement stories.
