VI.

Recreation and Places of Interest

Bright neon lights lead the way to Nevada’s gambling and entertainment resorts, Las Vegas and Reno. Both cities have numerous luxury high-rise hotels and glittering gambling casinos. In addition, Nevada has many historic and scenic attractions. Scores of ghost towns stand as reminders of the past. Nevada’s deserts contain spectacular scenery and much of scientific interest, such as the fossils and multicolored canyons. Recreation in Nevada is largely associated with its mountains, rivers, and lakes, where opportunities for seasonal sports are numerous. Deer hunting and trout fishing are popular, as is skiing, particularly at the Slide Mountain-Mount Rose area and Charleston Peak. Facilities for water sports and other activities have been well developed at Lake Tahoe and Lake Mead. Lake Tahoe, perhaps Nevada’s best known scenic attraction, is also a popular winter sport area.

A.

National Parks and Forests

The federal government administers two national parks, two national forests, and two national recreation areas, as well as wildlife and game refuges.

Great Basin National Park, in eastern Nevada, contains 31,234 hectares (77,180 acres) of rugged mountains, sagebrush deserts, and limestone caves. The former Lehman Caves National Monument has been incorporated into the park. Nevada shares Death Valley National Park with California. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, in the southeastern part of the state, includes Mead and Mohave lakes and Hoover Dam and covers parts of both Nevada and Arizona. Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, locally known as Mount Charleston, features snowcapped mountains surrounded by southern Nevada desert. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, located west of Las Vegas, features multicolored formations of the Red Rock escarpment, the Le Madre Mountains, and the Calico Hills.

Humboldt National Forest, the only national forest entirely within Nevada, encompasses more than 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres). This forest contains six wilderness areas, including Jarbidge Wilderness, which contains rugged, glaciated terrain. Other wilderness areas are Mount Moriah, Currant Mountains, Quinn Canyon, Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak, East Humboldt, and Ruby Mountains. In the forest, Native American pictographs (drawings on boulders or bedrock) and stone tools are uncovered at archaeological sites in caves where ancient peoples dwelled. In addition there are many caves of interest to spelunkers and scientists. The mountainous Toiyabe-Humboldt National Forest, in central Nevada, is the largest national forest outside of Alaska. Part of the forest is in California.

B.

State Parks

The state maintains numerous parks and recreation areas. It operates beach facilities at Sand Harbor Beach at Lake Tahoe. Three of the monuments maintained by the state are of historical interest: Mormon Station State Historic Park, located in Genoa, the earliest settlement in the state; Fort Churchill State Historical Park, the nearby ruins of an Army post built in 1860; and Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park, founded in 1857, also near Genoa. At Ward Charcoal Ovens, near Ely, the state preserves the beehive-shaped ovens that once produced charcoal used for smelting ores. Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park near Gabbs has fossils of ancient fishlike reptiles. The striking desert scenery in the southeastern part of the state is featured at Valley of Fire, Cathedral Gorge, and Beaver Dam state parks, and at Walker Lake State Recreation Area.

C.

Other Places to Visit

Other places of interest include Pyramid Lake, named for the strangely shaped island within it, and the active geysers and hot springs near Beowawe. Faults, or cracks in the earth’s surface, can be seen near Fallon. They resulted from an earthquake in 1954. Lunar Crater, a large basin near Lockes, was formed by the collapse of a mountain peak in ancient times. Other well-known attractions in Nevada are its ghost towns. Virginia City, founded when the Comstock Lode was discovered, boasted a population of 20,000 at its peak in the 1870s but now has only about 900 people. The nearby towns of Gold Hill and Silver City have also languished. The Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park also features a ghost town. There are many other such places scattered throughout the state.

D.

Annual Events

Although the entire state celebrates Nevada Day, commemorating the state’s admission to the union on October 31, 1864, the major Nevada Day event is a parade held in Carson City on the last Friday of October. The history of Nevada is highlighted by many local festivals, such as the Virginia City International Camel Races, in September, which includes a parade with camels, ostriches, and water buffalo. Las Vegas revives the spirit of the Old West with rodeos, costumes, and pageants during Helldorado Days in May. Frontier traditions are also upheld during Basque festivals in Reno, in August, and Elko, in July; the Nevada Indian Days Pow Wow in Fallon, in July; and at many fairs and rodeos elsewhere. Reno hosts the livestock events and popular midway of the Nevada State Fair in August. Sky diving and other stunts are performed at the National Championship Air Races in Reno in September. Among the major cultural events are an arts festival, a music festival, and a Shakespeare festival held along Lake Tahoe in summer. The Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which convenes each January at Elko, regularly draws thousands of poets and poetry admirers.