Best small town in Nevada? (Reno, Carson City: environment, hotel, travel)

[Johnboy71]

I want to travel around Nevada by motorcycle. Where would be a nice place to hang out for a few days?

[lvkewlkid]

Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings, just no hotel nearby, I don't think...

[garth]

Minden/Gardnerville. It's within 15 minutes to Stateline (Lake Tahoe), close to Carson City (State Capitol), and just 50-60 minutes to a bigger city (Reno) in case you want to go up there.

In the meantime, you're surrounded by ranches with fields of grazing cattle, nice bike rides up mountain highways through Markleewille and beyond, and short rides into other Easter Sierra areas. It's a very pretty environment.

You can also enjoy Minden's concerts in the park if you stay in town, Gardnerville's Movies in the Park, and other events depending on when you arrive. Of course, you also have Virginia City real close without having to stay out in the dryer/dustier/hotter areas of Dayton or Carson City.

If you're into seeing old bars, Genoa has the oldest continually operating bar in Nevada. It's just a couple minutes north of Minden at the base of the Sierra Nevada and it happens to be the oldest town in Nevada. It would take about 5-7 minutes to get there.

If you're into history, Mormon Station is open for tours in Genoa, as is the Dangberg Ranch in Minden. The Dangbergs were one of the founding famlies in Douglas County/Carson Valley and the son of the original Dangberg was the founder of Minden. The first part of the house dates back to 1857.

So, that's my suggestion for a small town. BTW, Minden is an economically healthy little town with a population of something like 2700. Is that small enough?

[Buzz123]

When do you plan to go? What do you like to do? It gets cold and snows in Northern Nevada in winter. You said you plan to travel around the state. Which way do you plan to go? Nevada is more than 1½ times the size of New England. As the 7th largest state it is huge. Lke Garth said, the Minden/Gardnerville area might be the nicest in the state, and close to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Tahoe. Elko is pretty nice too, although you just missed the Basque Festival two weeks ago. Ely and Austin are biker friendly towns too I believe, although Austin is pretty small and remotely located. Heck, everything is remotely located in Nevada.

[greatbasinguide]

Jarbidge is the place

[IwanaBnAngel]

My dad loves riding out to Virginia City and Carson. Lake Tahoe is a great stop just for the beauty of it

[greatbasinguide]

something to consider about motorcycles and Nevada. The distances between towns can be great, the roads are pretty straight. It is hard to imagine a more boring place to ride a roadbike. I have never been tempted to ride beyond Fernley, Yerington, Smith Valley. For a motorcycle the winding roads of the Sierra Nevada are a lot more fun.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

something to consider about motorcycles and Nevada. The distances between towns can be great, the roads are pretty straight. It is hard to imagine a more boring place to ride a roadbike. I have never been tempted to ride beyond Fernley, Yerington, Smith Valley. For a motorcycle the winding roads of the Sierra Nevada are a lot more fun.

I agree about the Sierra Nevada roads, but what about the Great Basin National Park greatbasinguide? Or the Ruby Mtns. and Lamoille Canyon?
Lamoille Canyon by 9431 : Weather Underground

[greatbasinguide]

Good question. The problem with those areas is the long boring ride to get there, and then, Great Basin Park has maybe 15 miles of paved road, ditto for Lamoille Canyon, you can also ride up to Angel Lake, but not many miles. The best ride in Northeastern Nevada would be the Mountain City Highway.

[kjobrad]

Laughlin is a small biker friendly Casino town on the Colorodo River. Hotel rates at this time of year very reasonable (less than $50 Sun-Thurs).

If you're not into the Casino or party action, this area has even more to offer. The desert down here is absolutely beautiful -- dawn and dusk in particular. The River and Lake Mohave are stunning. Easy camping at just about any spot on the River. The River is crystal clear it is so clean, maintains a year round temp of about 68 degrees and a fairly consistent current of 7 mph. Lots of river action at this time of year and plenty of water sports if you're into stuff like that. Coasting the river in my inner tube from Davis Camp down to Lazy Harrys in Bullhead is my favorite and kayaking the beach coves on Lake Mohave is the coolest and definitely soothes the soul. Privacy in the coves is respected, making a nice place to stop and hike, eat, nap in the sand or whatever.

Laughlin is a close and nice bike ride to to places like Oatman (an old mining town) with more wild burros than people and some cool spots to hang out on it's dusty little street. Then there is the London Bridge heading south into Lake Havasu. There is Cottonwood Cove to the north. Heading east on Route 66 there are many incredibly interesting places like the Grand Canyon Caverns. And of course, the Grand Canyon. Each of these places are convenient one-day adventures.