Castle Pass/ Castle Peak 4×4 Trail – North Lake Tahoe Donner Pass

If you’re in or near Sacramento, the Castle Pass and Castle Peak 4×4 Trail is a great spot to explore, especially for a fun snow day. Located right off the freeway at the Boreal Ski Resort exit, this trail is short (about 1–1.5 miles) but offers some exciting features, including hill climbs, rutted sections, washed-out areas, and creek crossings.

While not as long as Signal Peak (4–5 miles) or Forestdale Divide and Baltic Ridge (18 miles), it provides a good mix of challenges, particularly in snowy conditions. Even with a 3″ ICON Stage 2 suspension, we bottomed out a few times—but that’s what skid plates are for!

This was also our first test of the Toyo Open Country AT2s in snow, and they performed impressively. Additionally, we tried out new settings on the Baofeng HAM radios, configured by My Off-Road Radio, which worked flawlessly. For more on off-road accessories, check out our 4Runner gear guide.

Find it on Maps: 

• Trailhead: Google Maps
• Turnoff at the Y: Google Maps

Starting The Trail

Depending on the time of year, the gate might be closed. In our case, the gate was closed. Once you first roll up onto the Castle Pass and Castle Peak 4×4 Trail, you will have to go around the closed gate and it’s tight. It was an easy fit for the 3rd Gen 4Runners, but a little tighter for the 5th Gen. But, we made it through just fine getting in. It was getting out that took a bit more effort. Thankfully our 5th Gen has the E-Locker. When exiting the trail, the way you come in is a little too tight from the other direction.

There are tight sections of trees and the angles just aren’t right for coming out. So, you have to exit on the other side. It is on this side that you will have to be incredibly precise about your approach angle. It took me about 5 attempts to get the angle just right. After I did, I was then stuck between a tree and a hard place. Engaged the E-Locker, hit reverse and it popped me right into place. This was the most action we really saw the whole trail.

Driving Up

As you roll through the first sections of the trail, it is a basic snow-covered trail with tracks already present unless heavy snow was coming down the night before. There are plenty of humps and washed out sections that make driving through here in the snow pretty fun. There were also a few tight sections where trees, branches, and brush will scrape your 4×4. If pinstripes are something you are not fond of, then don’t roll out here because you will get a few. But, it’s not really that bad. Not the worst I have seen by far. The Baltic Ridge Trail was a nightmare pinstripe scratching alley for multiple sections.

Approaching Castle Pass

Again, depending on what time you go will depend on how far you can push it. Our 3rd gen crew member @allterrain4r pushed it up the hill a few times and then so did @myoffroadradio only to be met with spinning tires. Fun, but nothing more up the hill at this point. At this section of the trail, you can romp around at the top of the trail, eat some lunch or just post up for a second.

Getting Stuck

One of the homies, @1badt4r got stuck and we broke out the TREDS. The TREDS Off-Road Recovery Tracks definitely helped with digging out some snow and getting us out of a snowy situation. Although these tracks did come in handy on the passenger side, we ended up digging all the way to the bottom until we hit the ground to get the driver side wheel out. So, did we really need the TREDS? Not really, but they did work on the other side for the 4Runner, so they were very nice to have on hand for this exact situation. Whether you buy TREDS or MAXTRAX, you should always carry a set of Off-Road Recovery Tracks when you go out in the snow.

Room To Explore

As you are coming back down the trail, you have an open meadow to romp around/ wheel around on. At this time, only the 1st Gen 4Runner (@myoffroadradio) was doing the romping. The 5th Gen and the 3rd Gens wouldn’t have had much luck playing in the powder.

While the 1st Gen was playing in the powder and the other guys were doing what they do, I stopped to grab a few shots of the Trail 4Runner. Nothing too special in terms of shots on this trip but it was nice to get out of the house and kick it with some likeminded people in the woods. This is a cool little trail if you are in the Truckee area or live in Northen California. I wouldn’t “highly” recommend this spot if you are coming from the South Bay or anywhere further than San Jose.

Heading Down

Heading back out the trail is just as fun as coming up. You run through multiple creek sections where water is running. You can splash through fat puddles and get pretty sideways in the snow. Snow just makes everything a bit more fun.

Even though this is a simple little trail, we still had a good time. How can you not when its you and a bunch of 4Runners on some trail with a bunch of snow?? Cool spot and thanks to the 3rd Gens for the invite!