A travel blog about our RV adventures
Category: State Parks
Cathedral Gorge State Park is located in the southeastern edge of Nevada near a little town called Panaca. Formed from layers of volcanic ash, the park is filled with unique geologic formations. Years of erosion have left behind a playground of multi-layered towers, spires and hidden slots in the soft bentonite clay. Arriving in the … Continue reading Nevada – Cathedral Gorge State Park
Northern Nevada Railroad Ely, Nevada (pronounced E-Lee) is one of the oldest cities in the state and sits at an elevation of 6,437 feet above sea level. Known as “The Heart of the Golden West”, Ely was the economic center of Nevada in the late 1800s. Railroads, mining, and merchandising made this city an historic … Continue reading Nevada – Ely, Trains, and Taylor
Great Basin National Park is located in Baker, Nevada. People have been living in this region for thousands of years. Today, the town of Baker is a declining cattle and sheep ranching community hoping tourism will bolster the economy. Prior to Baker, the town of Ward occupied the foothills and supported the same mining operations … Continue reading Nevada – Baker and vicinity
Abandoned Kiln at Aurora It was time to start heading south as our journey entered the return phase, however there were still many ghost towns and old mines to search out. Hawthorne, Nevada, home of the U.S. Army’s ammunitions storage depot, became our next base camp. We had stayed here in the early days of … Continue reading Old Mines and Ghost Towns – Part 7 – Base Camp Hawthorne
Gold!!! We arrived at the place where gold was first discovered in Nevada. The state capital is located nearby in Carson City (named after Kit Carson). Fort Churchill guarded the area from bandits, desperadoes, tribal unrest and offered protection for the thousands of emigrant trains heading west to the gold fields. From mid-1800’s to early … Continue reading Ghost Towns and Old Mines – Part 4 Dayton, Carson City, and Molossia
Bodie, CA Our next destination took us into the counties of Mineral, Esmeralda, and Washoe where mining camps, stage coach stations, railroads, and the California Trail brought together thousands of people looking to “strike it rich.” Thousands of tons of gold and silver ore were moved out of this area during the rushes of the … Continue reading Old Mines and Ghost Towns – Part 3: Luning to Washoe Lake
Heading south out of the Wind River Mountains, we followed the South Pass and Mormon Trails through Wyoming, past Salt Lake City, Utah and into Nevada. Pioneer history, ghost towns, and more beautiful hikes in the Basin and Range territory met us along the way. Lyman, Wyoming Lyman became our base camp for the next … Continue reading Wyoming to Nevada
Welcome to Wyoming--- land of rivers, reservoirs, ranches, trout fishing, dinosaurs, and mountain men. It has been a delightful discovery to experience the uniqueness of each state almost immediately upon crossing its border. Wyoming provided some of the best cloud watching to fuel the almost-daily thunderstorms, which in turn brought us some of the most … Continue reading Dinosaur Diamond: Wyoming!
Colorado’s Grand Valley was our next dinosaur destination. Between the Colorado River and the Colorado National Monument in the western edge of the state, this area was originally heavily agricultural. Outdoor recreation has become the major focus now with cycling, hiking, fishing, and climbing the most popular. More importantly, the Dinosaur Trails area is located … Continue reading Dinosaur Diamond: Colorado Fossil Dig
Bordering Utah and Colorado is a 512 mile National Scenic Byway named The Dinosaur Diamond Highway. Along the route are museums, fossil quarries, rock art, federal historic sites, national parks and several state parks that contain 200 million years of history. Extend the route into Wyoming and a picture begins to form of paleontology’s wild … Continue reading Dinosaur Diamond Highway
