Central Nevada

Central Nevada is a region of Nevada.

Cities

• 🌍 Austin - small former mining town
• 🌍 Baker - small community that is a good jumping-off point for climbing Wheeler Peak
• 🌍 Ely - large town with several restaurants and other facilities
• 🌍 Eureka - small mining town
• 🌍 Fallon - large town with several hotels; is closer to the Carson City area than Central Nevada

Other destinations

• 🌍 Great Basin National Park - this park is located in one of the largest mountain ranges in Nevada. The centerpiece of the park is Wheeler Peak, one of the highest mountains in the United States. The park is also known for its bristlecone pine forests, caves, and juniper forests.
• 🌍 Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest - the national forest is near the town of Austin. It is in a mountainous region that is covered with the juniper trees that exist in the wetter parts of Central Nevada. The area can get extremely cold in winter and it often snows in the mountains where the national forest can be found.
• 🌍 Sand Mountain - this is a large sand dune east of Fallon.

Understand

Although Central Nevada is known for its deserts, it includes many dramatic mountains and extremely varied terrain. The western parts are the driest, and this is the region where many salt flats are found, much like Death Valley. As the traveler heads east, the terrain becomes less like desert and becomes forested at higher elevations. The far eastern part of Central Nevada includes the highest peak in Central Nevada, Wheeler Peak, and more rocky outcrops - east of Wheeler Peak, the terrain continues to be varied until the traveler reaches the Rocky Mountains.

Wheeler Peak is located in Great Basin National Park in Central Nevada

Mountain ranges in Central Nevada mostly run north to south and are similar in appearance to the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Between these mountains are dry valleys were farming is a rare sight; even ranching is quite rare. The valleys are mostly dominated by sagebrush and in some wetter locations oak trees, while the mountains are covered in juniper trees.

Central Nevada is known for being part of the "Great Basin" because all of the valleys in this area are basins; water that flows into them either evaporates or collects in lakes rather than draining to an ocean. However, there are not many rivers in Central Nevada, so any lakes in the area are either dry, seasonal, or murky.

Most of the towns in the area are small and are not experiencing the growth that is noticed in other parts of Nevada. In fact, the few towns in Central Nevada have decreased in population in recent years. Most roads in the region are very quiet; the U.S. Route 50, for example, is known as the "loneliest road in America" because it is so long but receives such little traffic.

Get in

The Central Nevada region is best accessed from the west, where interstates I-80 and I-580 exist; however, several United States highways enter the Central Nevada region, including I-50.

Get around

The main road through Central Nevada is U.S. Route 50, which is known as the "Loneliest Road in America". The road is so lonely because Central Nevada is not densely populated, there is only one national park, and much of the traffic between Reno and Salt Lake City takes the more recently-built Interstate 80. The Loneliest Road connects the few small towns in Central Nevada, so travelers will probably not have to leave Route 50 for most travel through Central Nevada. However, access to Baker and most of Great Basin National Park requires leaving the Loneliest Road.

You can get complete understanding of Central Nevada by, as the locals say, "surviving" the Loneliest Road. The road leads through dry valleys, high mountain passes, and goes straight through most of the towns along the route.

Go next

• Western Utah - this region of Utah includes similar terrain to Central Nevada, but includes more farming and ranching in valley areas.
• Canyon Country - this region of Utah is known for its dramatic rock formations.