Western Railroad Discussion > Tahoe-Pyramid Trail Above the Truckee River (Donner Pass)

On the morning of Thursday, July 3, I hiked a short stretch of the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail to capture an eastbound UP manifest (UP 8563 leading) as it entered the narrow confines of the Truckee River Canyon east of Hirschdale. Despite being a relatively short hike at little over a mile, most of it was on the remnants of US 40 and not super interesting. I think I'd bring a bike (MTB or gravel) to speed things up next time.

Cheers,
Sean

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Sean,
Great vantage point and video!  Thanks for sharing.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Another super video and stills!

texchief1

old roads are interesting too!

They are, no question. I tend to prefer them on the bikes, however. There is a lot of history buried under interstate 80, and you can still travel on portions of what was US 40, such as Donner Pass Road, Glenshire Road, etc. I've also explored parts of the original Lincoln Highway on the bike. In some spots I believe that I was on what might have been the Dutch Flat Wagon Road prior to it becoming the Lincoln Highway, near the top of Donner Pass above Donner Lake as well as near Hampshire Rocks / Cisco.

dan Wrote:
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> old roads are interesting too!

Interesting hike, one of the aspects of the area has been running into apparently private land or closed roads with dated signs. Some gates have been open, sometimes they are closed so it's been one of those turn-offs for the area. Looking at the older photographs of the free-roaming photographers of olde makes it frustrating.  The Truckee river always makes for am interesting setting.
t4p.

+ should add the phrase ' back in the day '.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/25 08:30 by TCnR.

TCnR, there definitely are a lot of private property markings through this stretch, some of which convey a hostile intent towards trail users. ​It's also been noted by trail users that a couple of the landowners along this stretch were/are hostile towards trail users, but it's entirely possible that they have had their homes or businesses broken into or vandalized. 20 years ago I would freely access the rail line and river in that area, camp overnight, etc., and even in the past couple of years there seems to be more no trespassing signs that have gone up.

All that said, the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail organization has an easement (or the land was already public) for accessing the trail heading east into the canyon which follows the former RoW of US 40 until near where it ends under I-80. They also were able to construct a small parking area on Hirschdale Rd that can take a handful of cars about a quarter mile east of the railroad bridge. Info can be found under the Hirschdale-Verdi section of the trail organizations website: https://tahoepyramidtrail.org/hirschdale-verdi/ The security camera with siren (which is reportedly in violation of Nevada County orders) that is noted at the top of the website's section page was active (an unnecessarily annoying) when I was through there. I gave it the one finger salute.


 

I agree with your observations about that portion of the trail.  Used to hike it a lot but it looks like people with money want to change the areas culture.   So, I don't hike that part anymore.  Hike the trail from Floriston to Ice house now.  On the way , the stair's landing is a nice observation point for the railroad,  Truckee river and the cliff that makes you wonder how long it is goona be before it reroutes the Truckee.
Appreciate your pictures and observations