TRUCKEE SPRINGS
Looking across the Truckee River at Truckee Springs. Photo by Bill Stevenson
May 2024 Update: Bridge installed and new Legacy Trail segment paved, opening soon
February 2022 Update: Truckee Springs grows from 26 to 67 acres. Click here to learn more
June 2021 Update: Truckee Springs Protected! Click Here to Learn More
THE WILD SIDE OF DOWNTOWN
On the south side of the Truckee River in downtown is a conspicuous piece of open space filled with aspen, sage and bitter brush known as Truckee Springs. Developers have long eyed this beautiful 26-acre riverfront property, which provides critical wildlife habitat and contains some of Truckee’s richest history.
The Truckee Donner Land Trust, working closely with the Town of Truckee, is now under contract to purchase Truckee Springs, preserving and opening this previously inaccessible Land forever as natural open space for public enjoyment.
The timing of this conservation effort couldn’t be more perfect. Concern that Truckee is losing its charm, character and funkiness has grown in recent years; protecting open space in the downtown core, rather than building yet another subdivision, will help preserve what we love about this place.
This property is Truckee’s golden spike. It will connect downtown to the river. Connect east to west via the Truckee River Legacy Trail. Connect the public to inaccessible lands all along the south bank of the river. And maintain a critical connection for wildlife between the water’s edge and thousands of acres of upland habitat.
If there’s ever been a rallying cry for the community, it’s this rare chance to preserve Truckee Springs.
Join us in swinging the hammer down on this golden spike to connect Truckee’s past and present, open space and cultural center, east and west.
“The Land Trust’s acquisition of this property is a total game changer for Truckee. Since the creation of the Downtown Specific Plan more than 20 years ago, a riverfront park has been envisioned to serve as an anchor for the town.” – Tony Lashbrook, former Truckee Town Manager
Access and Recreation
Land Trust board member Levi Leipheimer scouting Truckee Springs.
Trapped behind a legacy of historic industrial uses, the Truckee River has been blocked and fenced off from downtown Truckee for decades. For nearly 20 years, the Truckee Donner Land Trust has dreamt of protecting these 26 acres and opening dozens more of inaccessible public lands to the public, creating miles of access along the south bank of the Truckee River.
This property is the missing link for the backbone of the town’s recreation and alternative transportation network – the Truckee River Legacy Trail – allowing it to connect the existing stretch from Glenshire in the east to Donner Lake in the west.
Imagine grabbing a to-go bag from your favorite downtown restaurant and heading to a picnic table along side the Truckee River under an aspen tree. Or running along the Legacy Trail to the Riverview Sports Park. Or as a visitor without the need for a car, arriving on Amtrak and jumping on a bicycle to pedal from downtown to Donner Lake.
After work fly fishing right in downtown Truckee will be possible with the river access opened up by this project.
More connections will follow – with ideas for dirt paths connecting uphill to existing trails like Sawtooth and Big Chief. And places to access the river itself for fishing, floating or just skipping stones.
The Land Trust has a proven track record of creating sustainable access and recreation on its protected lands, managing more than 45 miles of trails, sprinkling in picnic tables and benches for the public to enjoy.
“Completion of the Truckee River Legacy Trail is critical to our long-term goal of a community and region connected by trails. The opportunity to align the trail on land protected by the Land Trust will be an absolute gift, one that opens up another beautiful section of the river for public access.” – Allison Pedley, Executive Director, Truckee Trails Foundation
A look at how Truckee Trails fits into the larger trail system, thanks to Nancy Holliday
Green= Existing Dirt Trails
Blue= Existing Paved Trails
Orange= Planned Dirt Trails
Yellow= Planned Paved Trails
Take a fly-through below of the Truckee Springs property (outlined in red) and see conceptual trail connections including the Truckee River Legacy Trail and other paved paths (yellow) and dirt trails and connections (purple). Click the image below to view:
Conservation in Truckee’s Core
Fall colors light up Truckee Springs. Photo by Bill Stevenson
While public access is an exciting aspect of protecting this property, it also goes to the heart of the Truckee Donner Land Trust’s mission. Preserving the habitat, the flora and the fauna of the riparian corridor along the Truckee River builds off of upstream protections by the US Forest Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. That maintains large swaths of open space for animals to roam – both along the river’s bank and between the water’s edge and upland habitat totaling thousands of acres.
Willows, alders and aspens – increasingly rare in our area, characterize the riparian habitat of the property, giving way to mixed conifer forest as the property turns uphill. Bears, coyote and deer are regularly seen, countless birds touch down in the willows as they fly by, and the trout and other animals of the Truckee River depend on clean waters not further impaired by erosion.
In the face of a changing climate, places like this that allow for the restoration of the watershed help store water, mitigate flood damage and regulate the wild swings brought on by more temperamental weather patterns.
“The springs, streams and wetlands can be restored, as can the riparian and cottonwood areas right along the Truckee River. The restored areas will provide more habitat, protect water quality and buffer against the impacts of drought and flooding.” – Lisa Wallace, Executive Director, Truckee River Watershed Council
Preventing the Impact of Development
The property’s natural resources and potential for public access have been imperiled for decades. Current zoning would allow for up to a 120-room hotel, or 40 single-family residences. It has been vacant since World War II. Before the War, it housed a factory that milled lodgepole pine to make boxes for shipping fruit grown in the Sacramento Valley.
A development on this property would be prohibitively expensive for addressing the community’s achievable housing needs – meaning any development would come with all the impact, but none of the benefit.
Instead, protecting the land as open space creates tremendous benefit for the entire community, regardless of economic status.
A fresh blanket of snow on Truckee Springs hearkens back to the days of the Ice Palace and winter fun. Photo by Bill Stevenson
The Ice Palace – A Colorful History
The Ice Palace, photo courtesy Truckee Donner Historical Society.
Preserving this land is preserving a piece of our collective history. C.F. McGlashan, a driving force in Truckee’s early days famous for putting the Donner Party’s story to paper, picked this property to be the site of his Ice Palace and the “Fiesta of Snows” in 1913.
It was an early attempt at moving beyond railroad and timber as the engines of Truckee’s economy, vying for the attention of tourists in the winter months. He picked the property’s pond for an ice-skating rink, and built a dance hall and several rooms with fireplaces for people to rest after a day of playing in the snow. Two new toboggan runs made for exciting rides of more than a mile from Hilltop down to the front of the Ice Palace. A mechanical lift transported riders back up the hill.
The event was a success, and an even larger one took place the following winter - but it would unfortunately come to an end when the palace burned to the ground in 1916.
“Opening this historic property to year-round public recreation will echo the days of ice skating rinks and baseball games, bringing our community’s love of playing in the outdoors back to the heart of town,” – Chelsea Walterscheid, life-long Truckee resident, past president of the Truckee Donner Historical Society
“According to The Washoe Tribe’s oral history, their ancestors camped here for hundreds of summers. Shortly after the Gold Rush, an influx of immigrants began using it, and then in 1867 the water-powered sawmill was built. Over the next forty-plus years, a majority of the transcontinental Central Pacific Railway’s ties, bridge timbers, and snowshed lumber were logged locally and milled here, as well as similar materials for a wide number of other western railroad lines.
Toward the end of this period the Truckee Lumber Company provided the right-of-way for the Lake Tahoe Railway and Navigation Company to build a three-foot narrow gauge line from Truckee to Tahoe City, in exchange for a favorable rate for log delivery to the sawmill. [There is a fascinating discussion regarding these financial arrangements in “The Swayne Lumber Company” by Beckstrom and Braun!] The mill property was sold in December of 1909, and for one hundred ten years since a wide variety of development schemes have been proposed.
The Truckee Donner Land Trust’s proposal is a brilliant solution for Truckee, providing a uniquely gorgeous park, with great historical value, directly across the Truckee River from downtown for all to enjoy!” – Nelson Van Gundy, Historian, Truckee Donner Railroad Society.
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Grant funding for this project provided by
