This was one of our stops on our vacation last summer - Reno, Lake Tahoe, Carson City... Donner Memorial State Park is up in that area too, and being the odd history buff I am, we had to stop by. (Please note, that is one who has an interest in unusual or obscure history, not an odd person interested in history, though that might also be applicable...)
For those who aren't aware of the story, the Donner Party was a pioneer party traveling westward through the Sierra Nevada mountains who, after one delay and another, became snowed in at this particular lake. They became stranded at the lake in October, the first rescue party could not reach them until February, and the final travelers were not rescued until April the following spring. The party suffered heavy casualties (42 of the 90 travelers in the party did not survive), and the last survivors were forced to turn to cannibalism to survive. To visualize that casualty rate, look at the plaque below on the right - four columns of names: the first two columns are those who did not survive, and the other two are the survivors. Almost one-to-one. The Donner Party story itself is an average one of a pioneer party getting lost or delayed while moving westward, but because of the accurate survivors' accounts of the hardships, the cannibalism especially, the Donner Party has some renown in the public mind.
An interesting note: The stone base is the height that the snow depth reached the winter that the travelers were stranded at the lake - 22 feet!!
Of course, traveling to the lake in August, sunburn is more of a consideration than 20+ feet of snow. The park itself is beautiful. Besides the history center, the park has a few nature trails, a little bit of hiking trails, and a mountain lake nestled up in the hills make for a beautiful day in the summer. And being a smaller state park, it's not overrun with people. We were there on a gorgeous day in late August and didn't feel like we were stepping over people to do what we want. Part of going to a park is wanting to be near nature, not other people, right? That wasn't a problem here.
The other thing I really remember about the park were the ground squirrels. All over the park! And very brave too. Imagine a critter as cute as a chipmunk, but as numerous and brave as a grey squirrel (brave, not brazen - key difference!). Those were the ground squirrels at the park - the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel, to be exact! There were about three that kept us very entertained through lunch :)
So, yes. Some interesting history, set in a pretty state park. If you're up in the Reno/Tahoe/Truckee area at the CA/NV border, this is worth the day trip to visit!
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