What began as a fifth-grade school assignment turned into a 10-day Nevada UTV adventure. When my son chose Nevada for his report on one of the United States, we decided the best way to learn about the Silver State was to explore it ourselves—and bring our Polaris RZR XP 900 along for the ride.
We spent ten days off-roading, visiting national and state parks, touring museums, stopping at historic markers and exploring old mining towns. Our route crossed Nevada from Carson City to Ely, continued south through Mesquite and Las Vegas, and then looped north through Tonopah, Hawthorne and Yerington.
We began in Carson City and traveled east on U.S. Highway 50, better known as “The Loneliest Road in America.” Along the way, we explored Sand Mountain Recreation Area, several Pony Express stations and more than nine mountain passes before reaching Highway 93 near Ely.
From there, our route passed through Great Basin National Park, Cathedral Gorge State Park and the Delamar ghost town. After spending a night in Mesquite, we visited the Logandale Trails System, Valley of Fire State Park and Nellis Dunes before arriving in Las Vegas.
On the return trip, we traveled through Amargosa Sand Dunes, Beatty, Rhyolite, Clayton Valley Dunes, Tonopah, Crescent Dunes, Hawthorne and Yerington. Near Yerington, we unloaded the RZR and followed Forest Service roads into the historic Pine Grove mining district.
Transporting the RZR Without a Trailer
Our Ford F-350 and UTV rack attracted attention everywhere we stopped. People frequently asked how the RZR compared with the height and stability of a cab-over camper. Although the top of the roll cage sat slightly higher than the camper, the loaded truck felt stable on the highway and on the approximately 200 miles of dirt roads we traveled.
The truck was a 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty crew-cab short-bed equipped with a rack built by Roggy Enterprises. Supporting modifications included frame-mounted camper tie-downs, rear air bags and a 2.5-inch ICON Vehicle Dynamics leveling kit. The air bags were essential with the additional weight, while the ICON shocks helped the truck remain composed and comfortable.
Before leaving, we considered taking a motorhome and trailer, the truck and a trailer, or the truck-mounted rack. The rack proved to be the right solution. It allowed us to pull into small parking areas, travel dirt roads and stop quickly at historical markers without managing a trailer.
See our 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty project for more information about the truck.
Our 2011 Polaris RZR XP 900
Our vehicle for the adventure was the same 2011 Polaris RZR XP 900 featured in our long-term review. The RZR was equipped with Pro Armor doors and harnesses, STI tires and wheels, DragonFire Racing bumpers, a spare-tire carrier, Flying V brace, A-arms and high-clearance radius rods.
Additional equipment included FOX shocks, Beard suspension seats, a Lowrance GPS, PURE Polaris rock sliders and trailing-arm guards, Unisteer power steering, a Muzzy exhaust and Rugged Radios communications equipment.
The XP 900 continued to exceed our expectations across a wide variety of terrain. Earlier that year, we had even raced it at the 2012 King of the Hammers. It also fit nicely on our truck rack.
Day One: Carson City to Sand Mountain
Our first day included the Nevada State Railroad Museum, State Capitol, Nevada State Museum and former U.S. Mint in Carson City. We then visited Virginia City, Fallon and the petroglyphs at Grimes Point before ending the day at Sand Mountain Recreation Area.
Virginia City, Fallon and Grimes Point
Sand Mountain Recreation Area
Tour of Nevada: Day One photo gallery
Day Two: Sand Mountain and the Pony Express Trail
Sand Springs Pony Express Station
Sand Springs Station remained covered by sand for more than a century. Archaeologists rediscovered it in 1976 and excavated and stabilized the site in 1977.
The Pony Express operated for only 19 months, from April 1860 through November 1861, but quickly became an enduring part of American history. Before airplanes, telephones, railroads and the transcontinental telegraph, its riders could carry mail approximately 2,000 miles in 12 summer days or 14 winter days.
The service could not survive technological progress. When the transcontinental telegraph was completed on October 24, 1861, coast-to-coast messages could be transmitted in minutes. The Pony Express ceased operating shortly afterward.
Exploring Sand Mountain
Located approximately 25 miles east of Fallon, Sand Mountain Recreation Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Its dunes provide riding opportunities for off-highway vehicles as well as hiking and sandboarding.
Project Shoal
Project Shoal was an underground nuclear test conducted within the Sand Springs Range. The 12.5-kiloton device was detonated inside a tunnel carved into solid granite, creating an underground rubble chimney containing fractured radioactive rock.
Mining History Near Sand Mountain
Tour of Nevada: Day Two photo gallery
Day Three: Highway 50 from Sand Mountain to Ely
One of the best ways to experience Nevada is to travel Highway 50, the so-called Loneliest Road in America. The highway roughly parallels the historic Pony Express route as it crosses the state.
The Basin and Range landscape consists of numerous north-south mountain ranges separated by broad valleys. We crossed more than nine summits while traveling from Sand Mountain to Ely.
Fairview Peak Earthquake Faults
On December 16, 1954, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake created an approximately 50-mile-long surface rupture with displacement reaching roughly 16 feet in places.
Middlegate and the Pony Express
Stokes Castle in Austin
Stokes Castle is a three-story stone tower located outside Austin, Nevada. Mine developer, railroad magnate and banker Anson Phelps Stokes built it as a summer residence in 1896 and 1897.
Tour of Nevada: Day Three photo gallery
Day Four: Great Basin, Cathedral Gorge and Delamar
Great Basin National Park
President Warren G. Harding established Lehman Caves National Monument in 1922. The area became part of Great Basin National Park when the park was established in 1986.
Cathedral Gorge State Park
Cathedral Gorge State Park lies within a long, narrow valley where erosion has carved cave-like passages and cathedral-shaped spires into soft bentonite clay.
Finding Delamar Ghost Town
We heard about the Delamar ghost town south of Caliente and were told it was approximately 15 miles down a dirt road. After traveling about 20 miles without finding it, we consulted a Nevada topographic map, backtracked and selected a turn that appeared promising.
The road quickly became rough enough that we decided to unload the Polaris RZR XP rather than continue in the truck. That proved to be the right decision.
Delamar once supported more than 1,500 residents as well as a hospital, opera house, churches, a school, businesses and saloons. Many of its buildings were constructed from native stone.
Prospectors John Ferguson and Joseph Sharp discovered gold in the area in 1889. Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar purchased many of the important mines in 1894, and the settlement was subsequently renamed Delamar. By 1896, its mill was reportedly processing as much as 260 tons of ore per day.
Tour of Nevada: Day Four photo gallery
Day Five: Logandale Trails, Valley of Fire and Nellis Dunes
Logandale Trails System
Located approximately 65 miles northeast of Las Vegas, the Logandale Trails System encompasses desert, washes and vivid sandstone cliffs west of Logandale and north of Valley of Fire State Park. Its mixture of sand, rocks and desert trails made it one of the trip’s standout UTV destinations.
Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park takes its name from the striking red sandstone formations created from ancient shifting sand dunes and subsequently shaped by uplift, faulting and erosion.
Nellis Dunes
Nellis Dunes lies north of Nellis Air Force Base and approximately 15 miles northeast of Las Vegas. At the time of our trip, the BLM-managed area was primarily used for day trips.
Tour of Nevada: Day Five photo gallery
Day Six: Hoover Dam
We traveled from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam for a guided tour and a closer look at one of the country’s most significant engineering landmarks.
Tour of Nevada: Day Six photo gallery
Day Seven: Las Vegas
We spent Day Seven exploring Las Vegas and taking a break from the road before beginning the northbound portion of our Tour of Nevada.
Day Eight: Las Vegas to Tonopah
We left Las Vegas and traveled toward Tonopah along U.S. Highway 95, stopping at Amargosa Sand Dunes, Rhyolite, Gold Point and Clayton Valley Dunes.
Amargosa Sand Dunes
Also known as Big Dune, Amargosa is a remote dune complex approximately 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Its centerpiece rises approximately 500 feet and offers steep climbs and sharp dune ridges.
Rhyolite and Gold Point
Clayton Valley Dunes
The Clayton Valley dune field lies approximately seven miles south of Silver Peak and is reached by dirt and gravel roads. It was extremely quiet during our visit and offered the rare experience of having a dune area almost entirely to ourselves.
Tour of Nevada: Day Eight photo gallery
Day Nine: Crescent Dunes and Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park
Crescent Dunes
Crescent Dunes is a small and often-deserted dune complex near Tonopah. There were no prominent signs directing visitors to the riding area, contributing to its remote character.
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park
Berlin is a turn-of-the-century mining town preserved in a state of arrested decay. An interpretive trail through the town explains the community and its mine.
The park also preserves the remains of ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that inhabited the ocean covering this part of Nevada approximately 225 million years ago. Fossils of these giant marine vertebrates are displayed at the park’s Fossil House.
Tour of Nevada: Day Nine photo gallery
Day Ten: Pine Grove Ghost Town
Pine Grove can be reached by OHV from several directions using Forest Service roads. A GPS with topographic mapping is recommended because the routes are remote and not always obvious.
William Wilson learned of gold-bearing rock in the area in June 1866, prompting prospectors to arrive throughout the summer. Initially called Wilsonville, the settlement was later renamed Pine Grove. The camp grew to include a post office, newspaper, stamp mills and several arrastras used to process gold and silver ore.
Pine Grove’s population reached approximately 600 during the early 1870s. The settlement extended for about a mile through the canyon and included saloons, hotels, stores, blacksmith shops, a school, livery stables and doctors’ offices.
Mining declined later in the decade, and the mines were only worked intermittently by 1893. A severe storm and mudslide subsequently destroyed many of the remaining structures. Among the most notable survivors was an old boarding house with part of its first floor buried by accumulated dirt.
Tour of Nevada: Day Ten photo gallery
A Different Kind of Nevada UTV Adventure
Bringing the Polaris RZR allowed us to explore places that would have been difficult or unwise to reach in the truck. The combination of highway travel, remote dunes, historic trails, ghost towns and state and national parks also gave my son considerably more material for his Nevada report than we could have gathered from books alone.
The Tour of Nevada demonstrated how a UTV can become more than a recreational vehicle. Properly prepared and transported, it can be an exceptional tool for exploring the history and remote landscapes of the American West.
