Built along the sparkling, cool waters of the Truckee River, which is the only outlet of Nevada's nearby Lake Tahoe, Truckee is a comfortable, rural town of 16,180 in California's Nevada County. Due to its proximity to both the picturesque lakes that line the border areas between the two states as well as its location at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Truckee has become home to a number of snowboarders, skiers, and kayakers, with its population growing by over 3,000 in the last decade, alone. Though the sense of beauty and peace of mind this immediate connection to nature provides rewards the town's residents throughout the year, Truckee's strategic proximity to both the vibrant vacation culture of the Lake Tahoe area as well the slightly more remote, though easily accessed, San Francisco metropolitan area also ensure that they are never too far removed from the benefits and business connections that come from city life. Still, with the soft snows that drift in each winter and cover the surrounding basin's forests a pleasant white comes a sense of tranquil and secure isolation that, when the grand vistas enjoyed by every home in the county are considered, would be sure to placate even the most experienced traveler. It's quite fitting, therefore, that the town's name derives from the moment when the area's first European settlers encountered a local Paiute chief who greeted them with the phrase "Tro-Kay", or 'Everything is alright'.