No Aircraft
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 11; Flight Crew Total 2952; Flight Crew Type 2952
Situational Awareness; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Airspace Structure; Chart Or Publication
There are two waypoints near Truckee; CA; with identical identifiers: VERDI.  One is a useful visual reporting point for aircraft approaching Reno.  It is shown on the San Francisco Sectional over the town of Verdi on Interstate 80.  The other is an airway intersection on V200 and V392; 12 miles out on the 241 radial of the Mustang (FMG) VOR.  This location is about four miles southeast of the town of Verdi.  It is in the northern portion of the Mount Rose Wilderness Area; on a ridge at a much higher elevation than the town.  This is very mountainous territory.  The aforementioned ridge rises to the south of I-80; reaching 10;785 feet due east of Donner Pass and Truckee.  Minimum IFR enroute altitude is 11;500 feet on V200 and V392; and 13;000 feet on nearby V6.  Even in VFR conditions; the mountain tops are frequently obscured by clouds.  Many pilots plan their route over Interstate 80 and utilize the VERDI reporting point as part of that route.  The town is strategically located at a 90 degree bend in the Truckee River canyon and I-80. VERDI the airway waypoint appears on IFR enroute chart L09; but it does not appear on the sectional chart. A pilot relying upon the sectional chart when programming a route into his or her GPS navigator will reasonably enter VERDI as a waypoint.  It will be happily accepted by the instrument; since there is such a waypoint in its database.  The problem of course is that the location is not over the intended route; but instead is over a mountain ridge in a designated wilderness area almost four miles to the southeast. This is an unnecessary hazard to navigation.  One solution would be for FAA to rename the VERDI visual reporting point as part of its series of five-character VPxxx waypoints which are in the navigation databases.
Pilot reported two waypoints near Truckee; CA; with identical identifiers: VERDI. One is a visual reporting point while the other is an Intersection.