MILES
359
STOPS
3
ORIGIN
Ely, NV
DESTINATION
Reno, NV
DRIVE TIME
6 hrs
TOTAL TIME
10 hrs
Today would be one of our shorter days, so we allowed ourselves a little extra time in the morning and had a leisurely breakfast at Beans & Brews in Ely before heading to our first stop and hike of the day, the Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park.
🛑 Stop 1: We wanted to do a quick hike before “really” hitting the road., it also gave us a chance to soak in the views around the charcoal ovens. Despite poor trail markings we managed to follow the Overlook loop on Trailforks to the overlook. It ended up being a cool loop to a high overlook that gave us a great view of the landscape around Ely. After about an hour we got back on the road and set out to our next “sight” seeing stop. We were glad that today would be a “short” day and were eager to get going.
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Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park
The charcoal ovens as seen from our way up to the Overlook.
🛑 Stop 2: After the Ovens we pushed on to the Sand Mountain Recreation Area. All we wanted to do here was just to take a quick “look” at the big dune and maybe do a quick short walk. What was intended to be a 15 minuted leg stretch turned into a 2 hour ordeal.
I ventured off the pavement and quickly realized the ground was too soft and promptly got stuck in the sand as I was turning around to head back out - I should just have stopped and put the car in reverse. Thankfully we were able to contact someone who gave us the number of a tow company in Fallon, NV. We waited for an hour and a half and were easily “un-stuck” by a friendly truck operator and continued on our way. The side trip cost us $170 and 2 hours. The positive, we stretched our legs…
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Stuck!
Up until now we had a great run on the road. I should have heeded that “Pavement Ends” sign and just parked on the tarmac and walked along the sand. INstead I decided to get a little closer to the dune, the result, a 2 hour wait for a tow truck. The time did allow us to check out the area for a bit, long enough to find some shade while we waited.
🛑 Final Stop: After the sand dune ordeal we were eager to get to our hotel in Reno, the Silver Legacy / Eldorado casino and just pressed on without stopping. We had intended to arrive much earlier, but instead rolled in at around 6 pm; we still had plenty of time for a shower and dinner in one of the casino restaurants. Like Ely, I wished we would have stayed somewhere else, the casino vibe is just not my thing. Should I ever do this again I would head to Lake Tahoe or Truckee, CA for the night.