Donner Pass - Highways

Highways

The Lincoln Highway, the first road across America (later U.S. Route 40 and now named Donner Pass Road), crosses Donner Pass. Interstate 80 was built through this area in the early 1960s. I-80 generally parallels the route of US 40 through the Sierra Nevada, but it crosses the Sierra crest at the Euer Saddle, about two miles north of Donner Pass. Euer Saddle is also commonly called "Donner Summit"; at 7,240 feet (2,210 m), it is about 150 feet (46 m) higher than Donner Pass, but it is wider and has a gentler approach that aided construction to Interstate Highway standards, which do not allow the sharp curves used by the Donner Pass Road. The 1920s highway has been preserved as a scenic alternative to I-80.