Twenty-five miles north of Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake , surrounded by alpine cliffs of silver-gray granite, was the site of a gruesome tragedy in 1846, when the Donner Party , heading for the Gold Rush, found their route blocked by early snowfall. They stopped and built crude shelters, hoping that the snow would melt; it didn't. Fifteen of their number braved the mountains in search of help from Sutter's Fort in Sacramento; only two men and five women made it, surviving by eating the bodies of the men who died. A rescue party set off immediately, only to find more of the same: thirty or so half-crazed survivors, living off the meat of their fellow travelers. The horrific tale is recounted in the small Emigrant Trail Museum (daily 9am-5pm; $1), just off Donner Pass Road in Donner State Park.

Donner Lake

• Donner Lake

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