Truckee River in California

The Truckee River covers two states, including California. Its origins begin in the high mountain sides of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, finally emptying into a lake over one hundred and forty miles away. In fact, it provides needed irrigation supplies for many valleys, despite its very mud-filled appearance. However, as its many visitors attest to, the river becomes beautifully clear as it skirts past Lake Tahoe.

California's Truckee River has intrigued travelers for thousands of years, not just staying within the state, but heading into neighboring Nevada as well. In fact, its scenic beginnings in the Sierra's are matched only by the continuously changing magnificence of the landscapes it flows through and past. When it enters valleys, its nutrient rich, if not murky looking waters provided needed water many fields and towns. Then it magically becomes clearer as it closes in on Lake Tahoe, only to regain its famous brown color as it heads east, traveling to its final destination in a Nevada lake.

Covering some one hundred and forty miles in total the Truckee empties into the Great Basin's Pyramid Lake, just across the Nevada border. It brownish murk does not improve much as it passed Reno before entering the lake.

To most the river is also called the Upper Truckee. It starts just south of Lake Tahoe, flowing through the lake and exits at Tahoe City. After passing Truckee town, it enters Nevada, through Reno and towards the Carson Mountains.

The river's waters are regulated carefully by Californian state laws, giving most of it away to those who rights over it. It is not uncommon for people to argue over Truckee River water. At the beginning of the twentieth century, part of the river was diverted because of a government act. As a result a joint country irrigation district has a great deal of rights to the waters, taking about 1/3 to the Derby Dam and then into the Lahontan Valley where pastures and alfalfa fields are present. Other supplies are shared amongst local communities around Lake Tahoe, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation, Reno and the city of Sparks. Another cut is used by federal wildlife and fishing services to help respawn endangered fish species and have a back up in case of drought. The rest is freely used by the general public for activities such as fly fishing and whitewater rafting. Its most famous rafting section is called the River Ranch Run.