For seekers of the wild American West. (Nevada)

Member Name: xcorlett

Product:	Nevada
Date:	03/03/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A huge desert playground.

Disadvantages: It can be monotonous

Ahh... Nevada. Media will divert your attention to the gambling and prostitution for which it is well known. However, there is much more to this huge state, but I'll deal with it briefly because no review of Nevada would be complete without talking about the casinos. Nevada is twice the size of England and contains only two large towns. Reno, in the northwest is a small gambling mecca with bright lights, a pretty river and lots of diners. It's bigger sister is better known - Las Vegas is in the southeast and has more casinos than you could ever possibly want to visit! The lights are bright and the water-consumption is heinous. The central strip contains most of the action and could entertain you for hours or for weeks depending on the size of your wallet or your level of luck. The reason so many come here is that this is the only state which has fully legalized gambling. So, it can be wild and it can be expensive. Expect lots of food, alcohol and losing your money.

However if that isn't your thing, then don't hesitate to explore the rest of this interesting state. Nevada is full of ghost towns, old mining operations, canyons... It's very wild west and you could easily spend weeks driving and hiking around. I'll go through a few places that I highly recommend visiting.

--Highway 80
Thousands of truckers drive along h-80 on their way to California or to Utah and beyond. It's a beautiful highway, with scrub-land stretching for dozens of miles either side of the road. Stop off in Winnemucca, eat breakfast in a diner and watch the tumbleweeds roll by. There are many dry lakes that you'll see along the road, which is interesting if you've never seen one before. A highly American past-time is to take your vehicle out onto a dry lake and drive really fast and then shoot your guns.

-- highway 375 & area 51
My favorite road in all of Nevada is the 375. Desolate to say the least, it runs for a couple of hundred miles to serve no more than a few hundred people spread out over several small towns and ranches. Totally wild. Renamed the "extraterrestrial highway", it skirts Area 51 - the Nellis Air Force base. This is where there have been thousands of reported sightings of strange lights & alien encounters over the past few decades. It has been thought that the US government has been secretly working with alien technology at the base. Several people has stepped forward who have worked at the base to verify the information, but whether you believe them or not, it's certainly an interesting mystery. I highly recommend that you pay a visit to Rachel along the 375. It is a trailer-town, with a bar (done up in alien-theme) and a trailer with a couple of rooms that you can stay in. It's incredibly kitsch, very cute and certainly worth the drive. The owner if the bar with chat to you for hours about aliens and tell you of the things she says she has seen. When you are there, don't forget to drive the 30 mile dirt road that leads to the entrance of the base. Take a photo of the sign, the guard who waits in his truck high on the mountain, the "black mailbox" and the workers who leave and enter in a mysterious bus with blacked out windows. It's a thrill!

-- Caliente
Once you are done with area 51, head west to Caliente. It's a great town with echoes of the past sitting everywhere. Trains come through town at 20 miles per hour. The buildings are old and the place has a very slow feel to it. The real attraction for me is the Kershaw-Ryan State park, which is a beautiful place to walk into. It is a canyon with high walls, plenty of vegetation including wonderful wildflowers at certain times. It's very green and you'll appreciate it so much after spending time in this mostly dusty state. Careful on "rattlesnake canyon", I was climbing up and found myself 3 inches from the face of a rattlesnake. It was curled up & raised it's head to look at me. I froze! But the snake was kind that day and let me move away without jabbing my nose.

-- Pyramid Lake
North of Reno, there is a lake. It comes out of nowhere and is a really strange and beautiful place to be. It's on Pauite Indian land so you have to buy a pass to go near the lake. It's not expensive. In the lake there are these striking rock formations that look like giant rock bubbles. The area is wonderfully quiet and serene. There is an old disused railway line that you can walk along that runs along side the lake.

-- Desert Monotony
If you've ever driven through a desert before, you'll appreciate what I say when I talk about desert monotony. When you've driven for 200 miles and the scenery has barely changed, you'll probably react in one of two ways. Either you'll feel that it is oppressive and that you want to go back to the ocean, or you'll fall in love. Many people hate Nevada, and it's easy to see why as it is an unusual kind of love. The scenery is subtle in it's visuals, but extreme in it's size and brutality. It is dry, large and barren. If you like that sort of thing, you'll LOVE Nevada.

Summary: Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the American deserts.