Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Truckee Tahoe Airport (KTRK) is a high-elevation general aviation field in the Sierra Nevada, two miles east of Truckee, California, and about twelve miles from Lake Tahoe. Owned by the Truckee Tahoe Airport District since 1958, it is a busy training and touring base whose mountain setting, density altitude and glider traffic demand careful VFR planning. A seasonal control tower, published noise-abatement routings and a strict overnight curfew shape how pilots should approach and depart the field.
Truckee Tahoe Airport sits in the Martis Valley of the Sierra Nevada, two miles east of the town of Truckee, California, and roughly twelve miles from Lake Tahoe. It is owned and operated by the Truckee Tahoe Airport District, a bi-county special district covering Nevada and Placer counties, and has served the region since 1958. The field offers no scheduled airline service - travellers wanting that use Reno-Tahoe International - but it is a lively general aviation airport with flight training, based gliders, corporate traffic and scenic touring flights, made distinctive by its mountain scenery, high elevation and correspondingly high density altitudes.
KTRK lies in the Sierra Nevada mountains close to the California-Nevada state line, within the San Francisco sectional chart area. Oakland Center provides overlying radar service, and the airport itself operates with a seasonal control tower rather than year-round terminal radar control. The surrounding terrain is mountainous, with Mount Rose, the Northstar ski area and the Martis Valley all near the field, and pilots are cautioned to be alert for mountain wave, wind gusts and wildlife in the vicinity.
Truckee Tahoe has two paved runways. Runway 11/29 is a hard-surfaced, lit runway of about 6,988-6,989 feet, the primary runway for larger and faster traffic. Runway 02/20 is a shorter hard-surfaced, lit runway of about 4,525-4,644 feet. Field elevation is 5,892 feet, among the higher general aviation airports in the United States, which combined with summer heat produces very high density altitudes.
The airport broadcasts an AWOS on 118 MHz. Oakland Center works overlying traffic on 127.95 MHz. The common frequency, used as CTAF and also as the seasonal tower frequency, is 120.575 MHz, with the callsign Truckee Traffic when the tower is not staffed and Truckee Tower when it is. Ground control, also seasonal, operates on 118.3 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.8 MHz. There is no ILS at the field.
Pattern altitude is 7,000 feet, roughly 1,100 feet above the runway elevation. Powered aircraft fly right traffic for runway 20, while glider pilots use left traffic for the same runway, so pilots must be alert to opposite-direction patterns operating concurrently. Downdrafts can occur on final approach to runway 20, and runway 2 is noted as the preferred calm-wind departure runway. When the tower is operating, pilots are required to read back all runway assignments and hold-short instructions and to advise on initial contact that they have the current ATIS information. Noise abatement procedures are in effect, and pilots are asked to observe a voluntary curfew and avoid flying between 10 pm and 7 am out of respect for the surrounding noise-sensitive community.
The airport lies in the Martis Valley with prominent visual references including Mount Rose, the Northstar ski area and the Pacific Crest visible from the approach paths. The Ponderosa Golf Course lies near the extended approach to the field and has been noted in relation to arrivals from the south. Glider activity is common in the vicinity of the airport, particularly from May through October, and should be watched for when inbound.
Truckee Tahoe Airport has been operated by the Truckee Tahoe Airport District since 1958. A seasonal control tower first opened on 1 June 2017, operating through 15 September that year, before reopening in December 2017 as a year-round facility. The airport has seen several serious accidents over the years, including the loss of a Learjet 35A during a circling approach in December 2005, a Cirrus SR20 that crashed in Martis Valley shortly after departure in June 2021, a Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet that crashed on approach near the Ponderosa Golf Course in July 2021 with the loss of all six occupants, and a Socata TBM700N that crashed during a missed approach in March 2024.
Today Truckee Tahoe remains a busy general aviation field with around 114 based aircraft, predominantly single-engine types alongside multi-engine aircraft, a jet, helicopters, gliders and an ultralight, and roughly 35,000 annual aircraft operations, the great majority general aviation. The field is attended seven days a week from 7 am to 9 pm, with 100LL and Jet A fuel (including sustainable aviation fuel) available during attended hours and self-serve 100LL available longer into the evening. There are 210 paved transient tie-downs, no landing fees, and low overnight parking charges. Local FBOs provide pre-heating and maintenance support, though no de-icing service is offered. Pilots should expect significant density altitude effects in summer, watch for glider activity from May to October, and follow the airport's published noise abatement routings and voluntary night curfew.