donner summit historical museum

Worth the stop if you're near Donner Summit, nice selection of emigrant memorabilia. Parking admission includes the museum and access to Donner Lake. The movie needs updating, it is kind of washed out, but it is informative. Great little hand carved wooden ornaments in the gift shop.

Run by a One Man Band, Norm Sayler, and The Donner Summit Historical Society this place is a cornucopia of Donner Summit History. Photos, displays, artifacts, books for sale, and a very generous brochure rack. Piles of things known only to Norm creep in from place to place along with a central area from which he holds court. It's all in one room, you can carry on a conversation while checking out the displays. A friendly and informational place. One of the brochures to be sure to pick up is on The 20 Mile Museum, it gives the location of a growing collection of 30+ roadside signs along the Historic Route 40 which parallels I80. There's a brochure on Historic Route 40 from Rocklin to Truckee as it crosses the Sierras.The Society is concerned with all things about Donner Summit from skiing to The Transcontinental Railroad. If you want to search out something specific to the summit they probably have an idea about the topic.Norm also sells coffee, so even though the official hours are 1000am-400pm on Saturday and Sunday you never know when else you'll find him there. He's always ready to entertain a visitor, one visit and you'll feel like an old friend.