The Truckee area offers year-round outdoor activity in the High Sierra. In winter, Northstar California and Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley) are the largest resorts within 30 minutes. Summer brings hikers onto the Tahoe Rim Trail, swimmers and kayakers to the Truckee River, and mountain bikers to Northstar's extensive trail network.
The most important historical site is Donner Memorial State Park on the shore of Donner Lake — the Emigrant Trail Museum tells the story of the Donner Party without flinching. Above the lake, the Donner Pass Summit Tunnels from the original transcontinental railroad are open for hiking through. Downtown, Commercial Row — the Victorian-era main street beside the train tracks — has good restaurants, shops, and a genuine sense of the railroad town Truckee used to be.