By Jon Crowley
The Pine Nut Mountains are a north-south mountain range in northwestern Nevada, stretching over 30 miles north-south from Highway m50 near Dayton, Nevada to Nevada State Route 208, about 4 miles north of Topaz Lake. The mountains spread only about 10-12 miles wide throughout most of the range.
The Pine Nut Mountains consists of almost 100,000 acres of BLM land, with many trails available to OHV use. The topography of the Pine Nut Mountains ranges from rolling hills (approximately 5,000 feet) to over 9,000 feet at the tops of the tallest peaks (Mount Siegel 9,456 ft, Oreana Peak 9346 ft, and Galena Peak 9416 ft.).
“Horsepower Hill”: near Brunswick Canyon Rd. and Bunker Hill Mine Rd.
Temperatures can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit at lower elevations during July and August and can drop to as low as 10 degrees during December and January. Average annual precipitation is strongly influenced by elevation and varies from six to 16 inches.
The most popular OHV access is in Minden at the end of Johnson Lane, but there are access points all around the Pine Nuts.
Johnson Lane OHV Staging Area
Johnson Lane OHV Staging Area GPS Coordinates: 39.027196, -119.704318
Johnson Lane OHV Staging Area Directions: Highway 395 to east on Johnson Lane. Continue on Johnson Lane until pavement ends. Staging area is in the dirt at the end of the pavement. Dry camping is allowed.
Sunrise Pass Road
After Johnson Lane becomes a dirt road, it turns into Sunrise Pass Road. This main road connects to a number of other trails that feed north and south farther into the Pine Nuts. Sunrise Pass Rd. leads into mountainous terrain and over Sunrise Pass, which eventually leads to Wellington and Yerington. Brunswick Canyon Rd. and Eldorado Canyon Rd. heads north off of Sunrise Pass Road.
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Mount Siegel is the highest point in the Pine Nut Mountains and is a great destination ride from Johnson Lane OHV Area. The most direct route is via Lone Pine Canyon Rd, but you can also get there from farther north off of Sunrise Pass Rd at GPS 39.069483, -119.550378. You cannot actually drive to the top of the peak, but you can get to Galena Saddle below the peak at GPS 38.886259, -119.503776, then hike to the top from there.
View from Mt. Siegel into the Carson Valley
The Johnson Lane area is pretty busy on weekends during nice weather, so be careful on narrow roads.
Heading west on Sunrise Pass Road towards Minden, NV
Responsible recreation is essential to ensure your public lands remain open to multiple uses. Please remember to stay on existing routes and practice “Leave No Trace” principles while enjoying your public lands.
More Northern Nevada OHV Resources
Exploring Humboldt-Toiyabe National ForestWe spent three days exploring northern Nevada in our UTVs. I brought our Arctic Cat Wildcat demo unit, and my friends John and Dave both had their Polaris RZR XPs. We camped along the East Walker River at a place called The Elbow. The East Walker River is known for its remarkable fly fishing, but we chose this location because of the proximity to so many interesting places to ride all within a day.
Smith Valley UTV RideWe spent three days exploring the area around Smith Valley Nevada in three UTVs - a Kawasaki Teryx, Polaris RZR and a Polaris RZR S. Walker River Resort was our base camp, and each day we headed in a different direction.
Desert Ride from Sand Mountain, NVOn a recent trip, our group brought along our dirt tires and decided to go do some exploring. I love destinations so we put a few spots on our radar. I hadn't done any prep work for this, but have been to each of these locations at least once in the past. Our route took us south of Hwy 50 and the long way to our lunch stop at Middlegate Station. On the way back we went the more direct route north of Hwy 50 back into the "End of the World" at the Sand Mountain Recreation Area.
Tour of NevadaMy son is in 5th grade and has an assignment to do a report on one of the United States. Well, he picked Nevada, and we concocted a plan to do a tour of Nevada and bring along one of our UTVs to help us explore all that the Silver State has to offer. We spent ten days off-roading, visiting nationals and state parks, touring museums and wandering around old ghost towns.
