Finding Fallen Leaf Lake

Modjeska Falls, above Fallen Leaf Lake

Tucked in the mountains, a few miles west of magnificent Lake Tahoe, is another body of water that just might be, with apologies to Mark Twain, the second fairest picture the whole earth affords.

Called Fallen Leaf Lake, this picturesque alpine lake rivals its larger neighbor in beauty. In fact, if not for a fluke of nature, namely a small stretch of land that separates Fallen Leaf from Tahoe, the area could easily have been another Emerald Bay.

Fallen Leaf Lake is located five miles west of Highway 89, immediately north of Camp Richardson on Lake Tahoe's southwest shore. A marked and paved road is located directly across the highway from the entrance to the U.S. Forest Service Visitors Center and Tallac Historic Site.

The U.S. Forest also operates a developed camping area at the northeast end of Fallen Leaf Lake. The entrance to the 206-unit campground, which is open from May to October, is located about a quarter of a mile north of Fallen Leaf Lake Road, off Highway 89.

The drive from the highway to the lake is pleasant, passing through large pine trees. About three miles from the turn-off, you travel by a lovely aspen grove and open meadow, both of which are spectacular in the fall, when the aspen leaves have turned gold.

The road narrows as it reaches the east end of the lake and, after passing into a residential area, you catch your first glimpse of the lake. As you drive, you can see incredible scenery, including Cathedral Peak (the southern shoulder of Mount Tallac) rising over the lake, its 9,785-foot crown mirrored in the lake's crystal waters.

I think it is the "mirror effect" of Fallen Leaf Lake that makes the view so remarkable. Rather than enclosing the lake, the reflection of the surrounding mountains seems to stretch into infinity and create a sense of being in a much larger place.

While much of the lake is private property, you can continue to drive to the lake's west end where, in the summer months, Fallen Leaf Lodge offers accommodations and a marina. In the winter, the lodge is closed but you can park and enjoy the marvelous views.

About a half mile from the end of the road (it comes to a dead end at the Stanford Sierra Resort, a private retreat), you can turn west on another narrow (all the roads around here are extremely narrow, so be careful while driving) paved road, lined by large log railings.

This road leads to Lily Lake, a trailhead for hiking into the nearby Desolation Wilderness and an elegant waterfall (which, according to E.B. Scott's book "Saga of Lake Tahoe," is called Modjeska Falls after a famous Polish actress of the late 19th century who visited them).

Frankly, even if Fallen Leaf Lake didn't exist, the waterfall would be worth a visit. Located just north of the road on Glen Alpine Creek, which feeds into Fallen Leaf Lake, the joyous, rolling waves of falling water are an impressive and unexpected sight.

You can park off the road here and hike to the waterfall. From the top, the view of the rapidly cascading water as it falls down the lush canyon is worth noting. Across the creek, you can also see private homes—people fortunate enough to be able to look out on the waterfall any time they want.

The road continues west, paralleling Glen Alpine Creek, for another mile or so to Lily Lake. Opposite the creek, parallel to the road, is a jumbled mountainside of loose boulders and stones.

A concrete bridge marks the end of the drivable road. On the north side of the bridge, you can park and hike a short distance to Lily Lake, a small but photogenic lake literally cupped in the mountains.

The main Glen Alpine Trail leads northwest from here, north of Lily Lake, into the Desolation Wilderness and Glen Alpine Springs, a former resort, located about a mile west after a pleasant walk through the trees.

For more information about camping at Fallen Leaf Campground contact the National Forest Service, 877-444-6777 or go to www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/camping/flcamp.shtml.

Gorgeous Cathedral Gorge

It’s easy to understand why Cathedral Gorge was made into one of Nevada’s first state parks in the 1930s. With its tall, deeply grooved, tan-brown, clay spires rising high above a narrow valley, Cathedral Gorge is something truly unique.

Cathedral Gorge is a place with great texture, beauty and mystery. Deep, shadowy crevices in the craggy cliff walls hint at hidden, dark passageways that lead into the unknown.

As you stand admiring the Gorge’s evocative formations, you can’t help but be reminded of the fact that Nevada contains some pretty amazing terrain and landscapes.

Cathedral Gorge is located in remote Eastern Nevada, a few miles from the small ranching and farming community of Panaca. To understand the forces that created this natural wonder, you’ve got to go back more than a million years, to a time when much of this part of the state was underwater.

Natural streams flowed into a large inland lake that covered the entire valley where the gorge is located today. Those streams also brought silt and clay that, over time, eventually filled the lake.

Flash-forward a few hundred thousand years—the lake has dried up and left behind a thick, clay lake bed. Wind and rain erode the clay, shaping it into the marvelous shapes found in the gorge today.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white settlers established small farms in the region and discovered the unusual formations at Cathedral Gorge, which was originally known as Panaca Gulch.

Later, the gorge’s name was changed to Cathedral Gulch, because of its gothic looking clay spires, and eventually to Cathedral Gorge.

After being designated a state park, the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal work program that helped employ thousands of Americans during the Great Depression, helped develop the park for use by the public.

Today, a handful of the structures and improvements built by the CCC crews can still be found in the park, including an old stone water tower and the wooden canopy that covers the main picnic area.

The drive into the gorge doesn’t really prepare you for what you find there. After turning off from U.S. 93, you enter a small valley. Along the north side, you first spot the gorge’s dusty, brown clay walls.

A bit farther, the walls grow steeper and more deeply carved. Then, you enter a wide valley surrounded by these immense clay walls and stone alone pillars and columns, each more fantastic than its neighbor.

The formations here almost seem organic in appearance. The elements haven’t so much cut or gouged the clay as they have seemingly molded it into smooth surfaces with rounded edges. It all seems more like it has been flowed into place rather than carved or chiseled.

The gorge contains several interesting self-guided hikes, which are marked. Two trails lead from the park and picnic area at the end of the paved entrance road to places called Moon Cave and Canyon Cave. While both are not really caves but rather, narrow passages that wind through the dramatic clay walls.

A one-mile trail leads into the center of the main section of clay formations. Back in there, far from the parking lot and picnic tables, and deep inside the cool clay, you feel like you’ve been transported to another planet.

At the end of the trail, you can climb a set of wooden steps that lead to the northern entrance to the park and a covered observation area known as the Miller’s Point Overlook.

From the overlook, you can see almost the entire valley and admire the acres of marvelous clay sculptures.

An attractive visitor center at Cathedral Gorge provides information about all of the state parks in Eastern Nevada. The center is a pleasing marriage of modern design and natural materials such as wood, brick and stone that allows the building to blend into its surroundings.

The visitor center also has a small theater that regularly shows videos describing Cathedral Gorge and the five other state parks in the region.

Inside the center, you’ll also find an information desk manned by park staff and displays containing historic artifacts found at Cathedral Gorge, including a large bison skull.

There’s an interesting story behind the skull. In 1975, a family visiting the park spotted bones in a clay wash. Not realizing it was illegal to remove historic artifacts, they picked up the bones and took them home.

The bones’ existence remained unknown until 1993, when a family member contacted the Nevada State Museum to return them. The bones, believed to have been from a two-year-old female bison, have been dated to about 1,200 A.D., and are among the oldest found in the state.

Another unusual item in the visitor center is a weathered paper program for a religious passion play. Like the bison bones, the booklet was discovered buried in the gorge’s mud and date to the early 20th century, when Cathedral Gorge served as the backdrop for annual, locally produced religious plays.

It turns out that the actors would transform the main part of the gorge into a stage, using the clay spires and formations as their sets.

Cathedral Gorge State Park is open throughout the year. The park has 16 developed campsites with shaded picnic tables, RV dump station, toilets, and showers that are open during the summer and fall.

Best time of year to visit is in the spring, particularly following a wet March or April, when wildflowers will bloom throughout the gorge.

For more information about Cathedral Gorge State Park, call 775-687-4370.

Seeking Silver Peak

Mining in central Nevada didn’t begin in Tonopah in 1900. While that particular silver strike was certainly one of the state’s biggest mining discoveries, prospectors were actually working in the region much earlier.

In fact, there’s a place not far from Tonopah where mining began about 40 years earlier. Known as Silver Peak, miners from the Austin area discovered gold and silver there in 1863.

Silver Peak is located about three hours south of Fallon via U.S. Highway 95, then 21 miles south on State Route 265 (at a point about 30 miles west of Tonopah).

Within two years of the initial discovery, a 10-stamp mill was erected, followed by the construction of a larger, 20-stamp mill constructed in 1867, and a town developed under the name, Silver Peak.

The mill was shut down in 1870 and the mines were sporadically worked over the next 30 years.

In 1906, the Pittsburg Silver Peak Gold Mining Company reopened the area mines and built the Silver Peak Railroad to carry ore from a large mill at Blair (a mining camp located about three miles north) to the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad line.

Silver Peak's fortunes, however, were more down than up, and by 1913, the town lost its post office to the thriving camp of nearby Blair. The town experienced another mining boom in the mid-1920s (it got the post office back in 1916, after Blair went bust), which produced more than $8.5 million in ore before cresting.

A potentially fatal blow was struck in 1948, when most of the town burned. A modern town began to rise from those ashes in the 1960s, with the development of large scale lithium mining in the adjacent Clayton Valley.

Turning off from Highway 95, you face a long stretch of open road bordered by the Silver Peak Range on the right and the Weepah Hills to the left. In the distance, you can see the snow-capped Montezuma Range.

The air is clear and crisp—one of those days that you feel you could see all the way to Las Vegas if the mountains didn’t get in the way.

About ten miles from the junction with Highway 95, the surrounding ridges take on a darker appearance, indicating the area's volcanic history. As if to verify that fact, the road passes right next to a large black collapsed cinder cone, with two additional cinder mountains visible in the distance.

From here, you can also see the expanse of Clayton Valley, including the massive lithium mining operations.

Just north of Silver Peak, you can find perhaps the best evidence of the older Silver Peak. Here, on both sides of the road, you can see the dilapidated remains of a few houses and stone buildings as well as the skeletal frame of a cyanide operation.

Look closely and you might find the remains of an old buckboard wagon, sans wheels, hidden in the sagebrush near one of the structures.

Passing through the center of the town, you can still see that some of the newer structures appear built upon the foundations and walls of older ones.

Perhaps the most impressive ruins in Silver Peak are the large stone walls of a large mill located on the side of a hill that rises immediately east of the center of town. The ruins date to the 1860s.

Surrounding the ruins is apparently the local junkyard, containing some older wooden shacks and buildings that appear to have been moved there from other locations.

An excellent book about the people of Silver Peak is “Silver Peak: Never A Ghost Town,” by Victoria Ford, available in many local bookstores. Using oral history interviews with many former Silver Peak residents, Ford crafts a profile of the mining community that residents fondly referred to as “The Peak.”

Carson City's Lone Mountain Cemetery

Most people don't usually think of a cemetery as a place for history, but some of Nevada’s most prominent historical figures can be found at the Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City.

Lone Mountain can trace its beginnings to the early 1860s and the earliest days of Carson City. Many pioneering Carsonites—as well as several governors and other 19th century state leaders—were laid to rest at Lone Mountain.

According to historian Cindy Southerland, who several years ago compiled an inventory of the cemetery, the 40-acre burial ground consists of seven separate cemeteries including sections for Masons, Oddfellows, Catholics, and children.

While it might sound odd, Lone Mountain is an interesting place to explore, particularly if you have Southerland's inventory as a guide. For instance, the Catholic section, located at the southeast end of the cemetery is home of several prominent Nevadans such as Mathias and Marcella Rinckel.

Mathias Rinckel, who was born in Germany in 1833, was an early resident of Carson City, having established a successful cattle ranch in the area in 1863. In 1876, Rinckel built a grand home for his wife, the Rinckel Mansion at 102 North Curry Street, which is still standing.

Mathias Rinckel, who died in 1879, also helped finance Carson City's first two opera houses as well as construction of St. Teresa de Avila Church. Marcella Rinckel, who died in 1933, was active in the women's suffrage movement in the state.

The former Oddfellows section, found in the northeastern portion of Lone Mountain, contains other familiar names including Abraham Curry, who is considered the father of Carson City.

Curry, who was born in New York in 1815, arrived in Carson City in 1858. With partners John J. Musser, Benjamin Green, and Frank Proctor, he purchased about 1,000 acres in Eagle Valley and laid out the community of Carson City.

Additionally, Curry built the Warm Springs Hotel (located near the site of the present Nevada State Prison) as well as the prison, the Carson City Mint building and the Virginia and Truckee Railroad shops.

His political accomplishments included stints as a Territorial Assemblyman from 1862-63, a Territorial Senator from 1863-64, warden of the state prison and superintendent of the mint.

Curry died in 1873 and, despite his achievements, was buried in a modest grave with a wooden marker because his family did not have the financial means to do otherwise. The original marker disintegrated over the years and it wasn't until 1964 that a more suitable one was erected.

Other prominent early Nevadans that can be found at Lone Mountain include:

• Henry Marvin Yerington, superintendent of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and namesake for a western Nevada community. Yerington, who died in 1910, also constructed the first flume to send timber from Lake Tahoe to the Comstock mines.

• Denver S. Dickerson, who served as Nevada's 11th governor from 1908 to 1910. Dickerson was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1906, then assumed the top job upon the death of Governor John Sparks in 1908. He was defeated when he sought a full term but later served as superintendent of the state police and warden of the state prison. He died in 1925 and is one of five governors buried at Lone Mountain.

• Abe Cohn, a Carson City businessman known primarily for his commercial association with legendary Washoe basketmaker Dat so la lee. Cohn, who died in 1934, sold Dat so la lee's magnificent woven baskets for 40 years.

• Hank Monk, a stage driver who was immortalized by writer Mark Twain for a white-knuckle ride from Carson City to Placerville that he provided to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune. Monk supposedly traveled the 109-mile distance in less than ten hours.

• Jennie Clemens, daughter of Orion Clemens, who served as Nevada's Territorial Secretary in 1863, and niece of writer Mark Twain. Jennie Clemens died of spotted fever in 1864 at the age of nine.

• Anne Hudnall Martin, a remarkable woman who served Carson City as a school teacher for 13 years, then as owner and editor of the Carson Daily Morning News.

A copy of Cindy Southerland's excellent publication is available at the Carson City Library. A condensed version that describes the history of Lone Mountain Cemetery and selected burial sites was also produced.

Unusual Nevada Newspaper Names

Eureka Sentinel Building

More than 800 newspapers have been published in Nevada since the mid-19th century. Most have sported traditional names—like Lahontan Valley News or Las Vegas Review-Journal—but a few have had decidedly more colorful monikers.

The following, taken from the classic book, “The Newspapers of Nevada,” by Richard E. Lingenfelter and Karen Rix Gash, are perhaps the most bizarre newspaper names ever to grace the printed page. Perhaps with good reason, none are still published.

1. Spark of Genius: The modestly named Spark was a monthly, eight-column newspaper published in Austin in 1879. It was the brainchild of Vienna Dollarhide, a local schoolteacher, and its stated goal was to inspire the "literary genius of the youthful climbers of the ladder of learning." The ladder may have been too steep for her readers, however, since the paper folded after only a few issues.

2. Measure For Measure: This Battle Mountain weekly, started on November 23, 1874, derived its nomenclature from a Shakespearean play of the same name. Erudite publisher-editor William J. Forbes attempted to be original when naming his publications; his previous papers were the New Endowment (in Salt Lake City) and the Trespass (in Virginia City). Measure For Measure tried to measure up to its readers’ expectations until Forbes' death in 1875.

3. True Fissure: With a name reflecting its mining-town roots, Candelaria's True Fissure started on June 5, 1880, as a Republican weekly. It served the role well, helping owner-editor John Dormer get elected Nevada's secretary of state in 1882 and reelected four years later. By then, Candelaria was in decline, and the paper folded on December 4, 1886.

4. The Cupel: The Cupel took its name from the cup used by an assayer. This daily was published for four months in 1874. Unlike most of the state's defunct papers, which died for economic reasons, the Cupel's demise was due to an act of nature. On July 24, a flash flood swept through Eureka, destroying or wrecking 30 buildings, including The Cupel's offices. While Editor William Taylor survived the disaster, reporter Roger Robinette drowned, as did 15 others. The rival Eureka Sentinel (offices pictured above), however, survived and lasted for another century.

5. Co-operative Colonist: This newspaper was founded to promote a socialist utopian colony being developed at Nevada City, four miles east of Fallon. Published sporadically from March 1916 to September 1918, the Co-operative Colonist was first edited by C.V. Eggleston, one of the colony's boosters, and later by R.E. Bray after Eggleston was ejected from the colony for being more interested in personal profit than communalism. The paper folded when the colony disintegrated in 1918.

6. Las Vegas Hangover: A case where the name says it all. The Hangover was a Las Vegas-based weekly entertainment magazine published from January 1946 to February 1946. Publisher Harriet Merry claimed circulation in 11 Western states, but that was apparently not enough to prevent the Hangover from "passing out" of existence.

7. Potosi Nix Cum Rouscht: Nevada's strangest named newspaper, the Nix Cum Rouscht, was a handwritten manuscript sheet, published in February 1861 in the Southern Nevada mining camp of Potosi by the town's founder, J.E. Stevens. The paper lasted only one issue—possibly due to writer's cramp or because no one could pronounce its name or knew what it meant.

8. Rochester Paycrack: Another newspaper named for a mining term (a "paycrack" is a rich vein of ore), the Paycrack was published for less than a year in the mining camp of Rochester (100 miles east of Reno). The paper was owned and edited by Joe T. Camp, described as "one of the last of Nevada true tramp printers" by Lingenfelter and Gash. Camp, who carried his press with him from town to town, started no less than seven newspapers in Nevada between 1910 and 1920. None lasted longer than two years.

9. Betty O'Neal Concentrator: The Concentrator commenced publishing on February 9, 1924, to serve the citizens of the mining camp of Betty O'Neal, located 14 miles south of Battle Mountain. Financially wobbly from the start, the Concentrator was first published by N.W. Cockrell and then was taken over by the paper's creditors. In its final days it boasted it was "the only newspaper edited and published by the citizens of any mining camp in the state." But even that didn't help it stay afloat; the Concentrator folded in mid-1925.

10. Aurora Borealis: The cleverly named Aurora Borealis, first appeared in the mining camp of Aurora on November 18, 1905. Published by the owners of the nearby Bodie Miner, the weekly Borealis was published for seven months, and then faded with the town's fortunes. The press used to print the Borealis ended up in Mina, where it was used until 1930 to produce the Western Nevada Miner.

Legend of the Lost Breyfogle Mine

One of Nevada’s most enduring legends involves a miner named Charles Breyfogle and a lost gold mine.

While there are several variations of the Breyfogle story, most begin with him prospecting near Austin in the early 1860s (although some claim he was selling real estate or working as a blacksmith or toiling in a quartz mill).

Apparently, in about 1863 he either set out alone on a prospecting trip or headed out with one to three companions (again, each story seems to tell it differently). The group headed south of Austin to the Amargosa River Valley.

One night while they were sleeping, hostile Indians attacked the camp but overlooked Breyfogle, who had decided to sleep a little bit away from the others (maybe they snored). He awoke to see his companions being killed and managed to slip away unnoticed.

Because of his hasty escape, Breyfogle was only able to grab his bedroll and boots but had no water or food. He wandered around the desert for several days without any supplies before stumbling onto a small spring.

While drinking the water, he noticed a deposit of quartz laced with shiny, golden strands and recognized it as gold. He chipped off a handful of samples, made mental notes of the location and set off to find civilization. His plan was to return to make a formal mining claim.

Breyfogle headed south and arrived at another watering hole, Stump Spring, where he decided to wait, hoping to catch a ride with the next wagon party that might pass through.

Unfortunately, a group of Shoshones showed up and took him prisoner. According to one account, he was treated as a slave, made to gather wood with the women and perform other menial tasks. After several months, a Mormon wagon train stopped by the village, took pity on Breyfogle and bargained for his release.

Here, once again, the stories vary. In bad health, Breyfogle, who had somehow was able to hang on to his gold samples, was taken to a ranch at Manse Spring, near modern day Pahrump, where he regained his strength and shared the news of his discovery.

Interestingly, several web sites claim Breyfogle was taken to Helen Stewart’s ranch in Las Vegas, which would not have been possible since Stewart didn’t own the ranch until after 1880.

After he had recovered, Breyfogle returned to Austin, shared the news of his discovery, and organized the first of several fruitless expeditions back into the wilds of southwestern Nevada to find his gold strike. Reportedly, for the next 26 years he searched the area roughly northeast of Death Valley and in the vicinity of Beatty, trying to rediscover his mine.

It is believed that he died sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s, still insisting that his gold discovery was real.

Among those who apparently believed that Breyfogle had stumbled onto something was George Montgomery. In January 1891, he discovered gold in the hills (now called the Johnnie Hills) north of Pahrump while allegedly looking for Breyfogle’s lost mine.

Montgomery developed a small mining operation at the site, which became known as Johnnie (also spelled Johny or Johney). Within a few months, about 100 miners labored at the site and, in 1895, a small stamp mill had been erected.

The town quickly declined after that but was revived in about 1905, when new investors reopened the mines. According to a story in the Pahrump Valley Times, Johnnie grew to several hundred people before the mines stopped producing. By about 1914, Johnnie had essentially become a ghost town.

Today, not much remains of the old mining camp besides a few rock foundations, abandoned mine shafts and an old structure or two on private property.

While many believe the Johnnie mining district includes the site of Charlie Breyfogle’s discovery, others still believe it is out there waiting to be rediscovered.

Hiking the Spectacular Santa Rosas

I had long heard that the Santa Rosa Mountains north of Winnemucca were stunningly beautiful and seldom visited. I’d heard that the range had some great hikes through lush wilderness areas where you don't trip over other people while you're there.

After finally getting there a few years ago, I found that it was true.

The Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness area encompasses about 31,000 acres along the crest of the Santa Rosa Range, which is only about 30 miles north of Winnemucca.

The range has been described as a “forgotten island of wilderness” by nature writer Michael C. White. It boasts one of the largest waterfalls in Nevada at Falls Canyon as well as several majestic peaks that are more than 9,000 feet high (Santa Rosa Peak, 9,701-feet; Paradise Peak, 9,443-feet; and Singas Peak, 9,415-feet).

While there are about a half dozen major trails leading into the wilderness area, one of the most accessible routes is the Singas Creek Trail on the eastern side of the range (Paradise Valley side).

To reach the Singas Creek trailhead, drive about 22 miles north of Winnemucca on U.S. 95, then turn right on State Route 290 (the road to Paradise Valley). Continue for about 17 miles to the signed turnoff for Singas Creek Road.

Turn left on Singas Creek Road (the Ranch 3C owned by Dave and Tom Cassinelli is adjacent) and follow the dirt road for about six miles and park at a wide turnaround. A high clearance vehicle is required.

You start by climbing a small hill and winding through the sagebrush on a narrow trail. About 100 feet or so from your starting point, you’ll pass a wilderness area sign.

The trail follows an old roadbed and passes through shady groves of aspens and clumps of sagebrush and wildflowers.

The path grows steeper as you climb higher into the range. Soon, you reach a small, seasonal stream that gurgles from the hillside and spills across the trail. The sound is relaxing and the setting is quite peaceful.

You continue through the often-dense vegetation. If you look behind, you can catch views of Paradise Valley, named, according to local stories, when a prospector named W.B. Huff arrived there in the 1860s and, impressed by the region’s beauty, exclaimed, “What a paradise!”

The Santa Rosas were apparently among the earliest mountains in Northern Nevada to be explored. Trapper Peter Skene Odgen led an expedition into the range in 1829 while searching for any rivers that might contain beaver colonies.

If you continue climbing on the trail to higher elevations, you pass out of the aspen forests and traverse less vegetated slopes. The trail drops down into a depression created by Moray Creek, crosses several more small season streams before beginning the up and down climb to the Summit Trail (about a half-mile from the starting point) that runs along the crest of the range.

The nice thing about the Singas Creek Trail is that you can hike as much as you want. If you continue on the Summit Trail, you can cross over the range and exit at a trailhead on the west side at Buffalo Canyon, although that’s an all-day or even overnight hike.

Other fairly easy hiking trails found in the Santa Rosa range include:

• North Hanson Creek – This is the only other major trail accessed from the east side of the range. The trail head can be found by following the same directions as those to Singas Creek Road, except instead of turning onto that road continue north into Paradise Valley. Take a left at the main intersection in town and continue 1.5 miles to the end of the road. Turn left on a dirt road and go a half-mile, then turn right on a dirt road and follow the fence line. Continue into the foothills until you reach a fork in the road. Cross a creek to the west and drive to a parking area. Then, starting hiking.

• Falls Canyon – This trail, like a handful of others that are much longer and/or more difficult (such as Rebel Creek, McConnell Creek, Horse Canyon, and Buffalo Canyon) is found along the western side of the Range, off U.S. 95. To reach the trail, drive 38 miles north of Winnemucca on U.S. 95, then turn right at the sign for Horse Canyon Road. Continue 3.5 miles to a parking area. The waterfall here is pretty impressive and located only about a half-mile from the parking area via a fairly easy trail that parallels a creek.

Good sources of information about the Santa Rosa-Paradise Peak Wilderness are “Nevada Wilderness Areas and Great Basin National Park, A Hiking and Backpacking Guide,” by Michael C. White and “The Hiker’s Guide to Nevada,” by Bruce Grubbs.