Black Rock Desert Nevada Exploration

wayoflife

wayoflife

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Far in the northwest corner of Nevada, there's a remote stretch of desert that hasn't seen a whole lot of change since early emigrants started crossing it on the Applegate Trail back in the 1800's and really, long before that as well. This area is known as the Black Rock Desert and while some may be familiar with its extensive playa and the Burning Man Festival that it hosts every year, it once sat at the bottom of an enormous ancient body of water known as, Lake Lahontan. For this trip, we topped off our tank in the small town of Gerlach and spent the better part of the day and over 160 miles all on dirt exploring tall canyons, historic sites, hot springs, wonderful geology and endless playa before calling it a day. Here are some pics from our trip, I hope you enjoy.

Heading north on Highway 447...
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Originally, our plan was to make a stop over at Pyramid Lake and check out the Stone Mother but unfortunately, we found that we were about 2 years too late - totally SUCKS!!
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Disappointed, we continued our trek north but had to make a stop to pose for a pic at Snoopy Rock...
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I just love the spirited cattle crossing signs out in Nevada. The ones out in California look like they're on valium...
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Welcome to the Center of the Known Universe!! Oh, it's also our last chance for gas. Beyond this point, you're totally on your own...
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Making a quick stop for a picnic lunch and to read up on some of the local history...
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Checking out some of the hip happenin establishments in town...
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Paying our respects to some of the early residents...
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One of the only headstones or, should I say, headboards that you can still make out writing on...
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We were hoping to check out the Great Boiling Springs, a hot springs that got its name from none other than Captain John Fremont but, it turns out that it's on private land and trespassers aren't welcome...
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If you've never been out along the old emigrant trails that cross through the west, there are cool markers left by a non-profit organization called Emigrant Trails West that have quotes early settlers made regarding various locations along the way like this...
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Working our way up Leadville Canyon...
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A final map and warning sign erected by the BLM to inform travelers of just how far and remote you are from anything...
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Endless miles of dirt roads ahead...
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Pouring through some old maps, I had once seen there was a petrified forest out in this area with one stump having a diameter 20' across. Needless to say, we had to go looking for it and this is what we found.
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Here is a marker dedicated to the man who worked so hard to preserve fossilized forests just like this in the State of Nevada - George W. Lund. As if it needs to be said, please leave this area as you found it - DO NOT take any petrified wood from this area. There are other areas nearby where it is legal to collect.
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I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to see these amazing treasures caged up like this especially being that a part of me totally understands why they are...
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I've seen fine examples of petrified trees on the ground but, I have never seen one with as much still standing as this...
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Walking to the protected preserve, we found a host of other smaller petrified tree stumps...
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Still looking so much like wood, it's sometimes hard to imagine that these are all stone...
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On the other side of the preserve, there's another cage that protects a very large stump. With temps soaring in the triple digits and situated in an arid landscape, it's hard to believe that this area was once home to a forest of Giant Sequoias...
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More pics below...
 
Continuing north, we made our way up into the Smokey Valley...
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On the northern end of the Smokey Valley, we came upon the lovely and lush Little High Rock Canyon...
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Taking a hike up the canyon...
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Making a stop to check out the Little High Rock Hilton...
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A view of the fine accommodations...
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Some clouds offering some shelter from the intense sun...
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Pushing further north, we decided to skip High Rock Canyon due to time constraints but, made a stop over at an old homestead situated by the dried up High Rock Lake...
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Parked out in the middle of High Rock Lake...
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Working our way east through Fly Creek, a part of the original Applegate Emigrant Trail...
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Coming out of the canyon and into Soldier Meadow...
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One of many creeks that we came across that are being fed by hot springs in the area...
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Pulling up to Steven's Camp, an old cabin out in Soldier Meadow that is now a designated campground with a vault toilet...
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The accommodations inside were actually pretty nice...
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As if we didn't already know how far we were from civilization - I think we'll take the risk...
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Pulling along side the shores of Mud Meadow Reservoir to cool off a bit...
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It's a little hard to see but, there were a bunch of really big white pellicans out in the water...
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Heading south along the Applegate Emigrant Trail...
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Looking across the hard and crusty alkali marsh bed toward the Black Rock Range...
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View looking west...
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Driving across the grain of the alluvial fans, the trail often disappeared into a deep cutouts and rocky fields just big enough to substantially slow down your pace.
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Pulling into the old Hardin City town site...
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All that's left of the town...
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Further south, we entered an area with the following warning signs...
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Pulling up to Double Hot Springs...
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Warning signs posted by the BLM - Take a dip and and die...
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One of the 2 pools is a tad cooler...
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Shots of the Double Hot Springs...
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It looks inviting but what you can't see is that in spite of it being 108 deg F outside, there is still steam rising from the waters...
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Crossing the Black Rock Desert playa on our way back to civilization...
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To give you an idea just how big this playa is, we were driving across it at 80+ MPH for over 10 minutes and still saw this ahead of us...
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And this behind us...
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At almost 9 PM with the sun finally down behind the mountains and the highway just starting to come into view on the horizon...
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I hope you enjoyed following us as we explored the northwest corner of Nevada. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend that you take some time to explore it but, you had better make sure to pack plenty of water and be prepared for anything because out there, you're really on your own.
 
Cool trip out to the Playa. I need to do more exploring out that way.

I recognized Pyramid Hwy when you posted this on Facebook the other day. You drove right by 5-6 trails in our area that are fairly short but fun.
 
Thank you Eddi and Cindy for the great photos and write up. I would love to be able to go on an overland trip with you as the guide.
 
Jeez you guys are like a history book and a tour guide rolled into one. Epic documentation and thanks for adding yet another destination to my list.:thumb:
 
Black Rock Desert Nevada

Thanks for sharing "Ed."

Great photos and spectacular views. Seriously makes me want to take a road trip.
 
Black Rock Desert Nevada

The playa at 3am is amazing! It's hard to wrap your head around that the playa was the bottom of a vast inland sea. The water line was hundreds of feet overhead. For future adventurers: when you travel thru the small towns- do not go any faster than the posted speed limits.
 
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