Bruce Grubbs - Hiking Nevada: A Guide to State’s Greatest Hiking Adventures

Nevada is the most mountainous state, the driest state, and the fastest-growing state in the country. When the first edition of Hiking Nevada was published, its vast wild places were relatively unknown except to a few hikers, horsemen, and hunters. But now, thanks to the work of the Nevada Wilderness Coalition, Nevada is no longer a black hole in the wilderness map of the West. Growing numbers of outdoor enthusiasts are discovering the magnificent expanses of Nevadas high desert and unique mountain ranges and the wonderful wildlife habitat to be found there.

In addition to the 777,000 acres of USDA Forest Service land and National Park Service land that Congress designated as wilderness by the end of 1994, an additional 1,994,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management areas were added in 2000, 2002, and 2004. These lands range from the huge Black Rock Desert wilderness in northwestern Nevada to the desert ranges of Lincoln County in the southeast, as well as the areas near Las Vegas, the fastest-growing city in the United States. In 2006, twelve new wilderness areas, totaling 558,000 acres, were added in White Pine County, protecting the high Schell Range and Mount Grafton area, among others. And in 2014, portions of the Pine Forest Range were designated as wilderness. Currently, 3.44 million acres of Nevada are protected as part of the National Wilderness System.

In December 2016, President Obama used the Antiquities Act to protect 297,000 acres in southeast Nevada as Gold Butte National Monument. This national monument protects the area west of Arizonas Grand CanyonParashant National Monument, from the Virgin Mountains on the north to Lake Mead National Recreation Area on the south and west, and includes the Jumbo Springs and Lime Canyon Wildernesses.

The effort to protect Nevadas wild country continues, and every region in Nevada has lands that qualify in every way as wilderness. It will take a strong and united effort on the part of conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts to achieve wilderness status for these remote lands. Local leaders and the congressional delegation need to be educated about the valuable legacy that these wild lands offer to us and to future generations.

We need wilderness enthusiasts to get out and enjoy Nevadas wild places and to spread the word to others. To learn what you can do, please contact Friends of Nevada Wilderness via their website, www.nevadawilderness.org.

Marjorie Sill and Bruce Grubbs

The following checklists may be useful for ensuring that you forget nothing essential on your hiking trips. Of course, these lists contain far more items than youll need on any individual trip!

CLOTHING

Shirt

Pants

Underwear (extra)

Swimsuit

Walking shorts

Belt or suspenders

Windbreaker

Jacket or parka

Rain gear

Gloves or mittens

Sun hat

Warm cap for cold

Bandanna

Sweater

FOOTWEAR

Boots

Socks (extra)

Boot wax

Camp shoes

SLEEPING

Tarp or tent with fly

Groundsheet

Sleeping pad

Sleeping bag

PACKING

Backpack

Day pack or fanny pack

COOKING

Matches or lighter

Waterproof match case

Fire starter

Stove

Fuel

Stove maintenance kit

Cooking pot(s)

Cup

Bowl or plate

Utensils

Pot scrubber

Plastic water bottles

Collapsible water containers

FOOD

Cereal

Bread

Crackers

Cheese

Margarine

Dry soup

Packaged dinners

Snacks

Hot chocolate

Tea

Powdered milk

Powdered drink mixes

NAVIGATION

Topographic maps

Compass

EMERGENCY/REPAIR

Pocketknife

First-aid kit

Snakebite kit

Nylon cord

Plastic bags

Wallet or ID card

Space blanket

Emergency fishing gear

Signal mirror

Pack parts

Stove parts

Tent parts

Flashlight bulbs, batteries

Scissors

Safety pins

MISCELLANEOUS

Fishing gear

Photographic gear

Sunglasses

Flashlight

Candle lantern

Sunscreen

Insect repellent

Toilet paper and trowel

Binoculars

Trash bags

Notebook and pencils

Field guides

Book or game

Dental and personal items

Towel

Water purification tablets

Car key

Watch

Calendar

CAR

Extra water

Extra food

Extra clothes

CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS AND HIKING CLUBS

Desert Trail Association, www.thedeserttrail.org

Friends of Nevada Wilderness, www.nevadawilderness.org

Great Basin Association, Baker, NV 89311; (775) 234-7270; www.nps.gov/grba/gbnha/gba.htm

Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org

Sierra Club, Toiyabe Chapter, http://nevada.sierraclub.org

Tahoe Rim Trail Association, www.tahoerimtrail.org

MAPS AND MAPPING/GPS APPS

AllTrails.com: subscription website with some Nevada trails and maps, plus iPhone and Android apps

Backcountry Navigator Pro: Android GPS and topo map app

ExpertGPS.com: computer topo maps and satellite images with GPS and mapping tools

GaiaGPS.com: digital maps for iPhone and Android devices

Garmin: www.garmin.com; DeLorme, www.delorme.com (maps for Garmin trail GPS receivers)

GPSFileDepot.com: free topo and other maps for Garmin trail GPS receivers

Maptech: www.maptech.com

National Geographic Maps (Trails Illustrated waterproof paper hiking map series) Topo! digital state maps, http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo; https://shop.nationalgeographic.com/category/maps/trail-maps/nevada

Topozone.com: free online topo maps

USGS Topographic Maps: 1400 Independence Rd., Rolla, MO 65401; (573) 308-3500; http://topomaps.usgs.gov; https://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/index.html

Cline, Gloria Griffen. Exploring the Great Basin. University of Nevada Press, 1963.

Elliott, Russel R. History of Nevada. University of Nebraska Press, 2015.

Fiero, G. William. Nevadas Valley of Fire. KC Publications, 1997.

Hart, John. Hiking the Great Basin. Sierra Club Books, 1992.

Houghton, Samuel G. A Trace of Desert Waters: The Great Basin Story. Howe Brothers, 1986.

Larson, Peggy. The Sierra Club Naturalists Guide to the Deserts of the Southwest. Sierra Club Books, 1977.

Perry, John, and Jane Greverus. Guide to the Natural Areas of New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Sierra Club Books, 1986.

Redfern, Ron. The Making of a Continent. Times Books, 1983.

Trimble, Stephen. The Sagebrush Ocean. University of Nevada Press, 1999.

Waring, Gwendolyn. A Natural History of the Intermountain West: Its Ecological and Evolutionary Story. University of Utah Press, 2011.

Wilkerson, James. Medicine for Mountaineering. Mountaineers Books, 2010.

The Silver State has a wild and diverse backcountry with a rich contrast between valley and mountain. Nevada offers not only desert salt flats shimmering in the sun but also cool mountain streams cascading down rocky slopes, shady redrock canyons, dramatic alpine peaks, young quaking aspen trees whispering in the wind, and gnarled ancient bristlecone pines silently enduring the millennia.