Northern Nevada

Northern Nevada consists of dry, mountainous, sparsely populated landscapes. Most of the towns are dotted along the Humboldt River, Interstate 80, and the railroad, all of which cut across this part of Nevada from west to east, running next to each other for much of the way.

Other destinations

 * - A city of 70,000 people during the annual Burning Man festival at the end of August, wide open desert during the rest of the year.
 * - A state park hidden in the Nevada desert between Lovelock and Winnemucca. Conditions are good for swimming.

Understand
The emigrants who plotted their way across the vast expanse of present day Nevada and the makers of the Central Pacific Railroad and Interstate 80 that followed probably weren't thinking too much about scenery, because hoo-boy, the cut Interstate 80 makes across the state will probably have you twitching in your seat from boredom by the time you get from Wendover to Reno. But thankfully, there are towns or shells of towns to keep your mind in focus just as it's about to go into a state of mindlessness.

Actually, as you snake along the path of the Humboldt River that so many have followed over the past 150 years or so, you at least have the reassurance of knowing that you'll be somewhere safe and sound in a few hours, not stranded in your Conestoga Wagon in the 40-mile desert with a broken axle.

Vegetation mostly consists of the high desert favorite child, sagebrush, with some saltbrush and rabbitbrush thrown in, and sometimes you'll see a mining or mill relic fly by.

Get in
Elko Regional Airport

The California Zephyr train route, between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area via Salt Lake City and Reno, passes through northern Nevada with stops in Elko and Winnemucca.

Do
Some places in northern Nevada have more going on than others.


 * Gambling
 * Hiking