Built by Chinese immigrants in the 1860s, the caverns cutting through Donner Summit helped unite the country. A summer hike led me straight to the yawning maw of the Donner Summit tunnels high above Donner Lake in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Not even the longer of the two, a man-made cavern 1,659 feet in length, appeared on my map. There was no historical marker, no plaque, no interpretive signs—no signage of any sort. I had no way of knowing that I’d accidentally stumbled on one of the most important engineering marvels of the 19th century, the one that … [Read More]
The Donner Summit tunnels and 13 others in the Sierra Nevada built by Chinese railroad workers remain a testament to ingenuity and industry.