Donner Lake is named after the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. In this tragic chapter of California's history, some of the pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Jeffrey pines (Pinus jeffreyi) are very common in the Sierra Nevada (at elevations of 2,000-3,100 m). Their needles are 12-22 cm long and are held in bundles of 3 in a persistent sheath. The tree bark is yellowish to reddish brown and deeply furrowed into polygonal scaly plates. This species occurs with and closely resembles the Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), but it typically grows at somewhat greater elevations and has darker and longer foliage. Also, the scales of its cones have recurved prickles (Ponderosa cones feel sharp-prickled). The sap of Jeffrey pines is extremely flammable; historically, efforts to extract turpentine from this species often led to explosions. The flammable constituent, heptane, later became the standard for the octane scale used to rate gasolines.

Trees of Western North America by Richard Spellenberg, Christopher J. Earle, and Gil Nelson

Another common pine in the Sierra Nevada is the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). The scientific name can be confusing because only the shore subspecies (Pinus contorta contorta) can grow as a short, contorted tree. The Sierra lodgepole (Pinus contorta murrayana) grows as a large tree within mixed conifer forests. The needles of the lodgepole pine are 2-8 cm long and are held in bundles of 2 in a persistent sheath.

Trees of Western North America by Richard Spellenberg, Christopher J. Earle, and Gil Nelson