Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
I recently helped Bradd Davidson of B Radd Customs in Reno, NV. Well, Sparks...
Anyway, a full build video is coming soon, for now check out how the trailer works for the two most important things to overlanding, coffee making and 4 wheeling.
I recently helped Bradd Davidson of B Radd Customs in Reno, NV. Well, Sparks...
Anyway, a full build video is coming soon, for now check out how the trailer works for the two most important things to overlanding, coffee making and 4 wheeling.






![Ten Easy Off-Road Trails in Reno, Nevada
0:00 Intro
0:26 Guidebooks and Maps
1:00 Peavine Peak Road
2:05 Dog Valley Road
3:26 Sunrise Pass Road
4:31 Toll Road
5:44 Virginia Peak Off-Road
6:50 Lousetown Road
8:14 Jumbo Grade Road
9:33 Ophir Grade Road
10:51 Rock Peak Off-Road
12:09 Hunter Lake Road
13:49 Conclusion
Reno is an amazing place to live if you love exploring dirt roads that provide access to public lands with amazing backcountry recreation, views and solitude. Here are ten easy off-road trails close to Reno, NV.
These trails are all well-traveled and easy to find, but if you want a little extra info, there are links below to writeups on allterrainfam.com and video guides on the All-Terrain Family YouTube Channel. For more info check out these books:
More Info: https://wp.me/p1CTh9-11G
Nevada Trails, Western Region: https://amzn.to/4a04dvV [PAID LINK]
High Sierra SUV trails: https://amzn.to/416dOgD [PAID LINK]
Nevada Gazetteer: https://amzn.to/3sZJSGe [PAID LINK]
It’s also handy to have something like Gaia GPS (https://www.gaiagps.com) or On X Off Road (https://www.onxmaps.com) on your phone or tablet.
Alright, let’s hit the trail.
1 Peavine Peak
You see it every day, but did you know it’s super easy to get to the top? Peavine is probably the easiest dirt road you can do in the Reno area that actually goes somewhere. It’s rough but not particularly steep. It’s wide, with plenty of room to pass or turn around.
2 Sunrise Pass
Sunrise Pass road is the second easiest trail in this list and traverses the Pine Nut mountain range from Carson Valley to Smith Valley. Sunrise Pass road can be done as an out-and-back of any length or as part of a scenic loop around the Pine Nuts encompassing Smith Valley and Topaz Lake.
3 Dog Valley Road
Dog Valley Road and Hennessy Pass Road connect Verdi with the North Valleys around the West side of Peavine Peak. The main attraction of this trail is the Verdi Peak Crystal Mine. This is a spot that was a source of Quartz Crystals used in radios during World War 2. Just about any SUV can make this trip, from Subarus and AWD minivans to 4Runners or Suburbans, though this is a bit rougher at the start as you climb out of Verdi.
4 Toll Road
Toll Road is in my backyard. Most of the videos on this channel were shot in some part there on Toll Road. This is a Historic route from Reno to Virginia City and is maintained by volunteers and enthusiasts and, at the very bottom and top, by landowners who have houses there.
5 Virginia Peak
Virginia Peak is the high point of the Pan Rah range, which is the northern extension of the Virginia Range north of the Truckee River corridor. This is another easy dirt road with options to make it a little harder and more adventurous here and there. There are radio towers at the top here, as well as stunning views back towards Spanish Springs, Reno, and the Sierra Nevadas. The real treat is the views East down to Pyramid Lake, and Central Nevada on a clear day.
6 Lousetown Road
Lousetown Road is another historic road that provides access to some remote areas of the Virginia Range. This road is the hardest so far and might require a more capable vehicle than average or a high sense of adventure or offroad driving skill. Some attractions on this trail are the many Virginia Range Mustangs you’re sure to see, mining ruins, and the Lagomarsino petroglyphs.
07 Jumbo Grade
Jumbo Grade Road is a special trail for us because it’s the first off-road trip we made as a family in our old 4Runner and the first video we made for this channel. At the time, we thought it was pretty extreme in our stock SUV, but it seems pretty tame to us now.
08 Ophir Grade Road
Ophir Grade Road is a harder variation of Jumbo Grade Road and starts from the intersection of Carson Reno Highway and East Lake BLVD. This road is rougher and has more rock obstacles than Jumbo, but it’s more fun and less traveled.
09 Rocky Peak
Rocky Peak is a tough, rocky, steep 4x4 track that heads up a remote part of the Virginia Range to a spot where you can hike the cool, craggy, and aptly named Rocky Peak. This one will be a challenge in a stock 4x4, but I believe it could be done if you know what you’re doing.
Prison Hill
Prison Hill is an off-road recreation area in Carson City. This has everything from easy dirt roads to extreme rock crawling and ATV trails. The basic trail here is short, but gets you up high for great views of the Carson Valley and Sierra Nevada range.
Hunter Lake Road
Hunter Lake Road is the hardest trail I’ve featured here and if we’re being precise, the only one that starts actually in Reno. This one can be done in a stock SUV, but it’s longer and more consistently challenging than the others featured here. It can be done as a LONG loop that will take most of the day or a shorter half-day out and back. Ten Easy Off-Road Trails in Reno, Nevada](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rrS29yyUbcI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Overlanding Nevada: Tunnel Camp to Nightengale Mine
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00:01: Introduction
00:21: Tunnel Camp
02:20: Stolen Tunnel Camp Truck
04:21: Desert Spring, Nevada
05:25: Nightengale Mine
06:20: Nightengale Short Cut
06:39: Tacoma 4 Wheeling
09:22: Winnemucca Dry Lake
I suppose on some elemental level, every dirt road looks about about like the next. Just an endless valley. Another scraggy mountain range with a name that only means something to the dusty pioneers who gave it. But every road leads somewhere. And this one brings us back here to Sage Valley, The Seven Troughs Range and Tunnel Camp. There are a number of Air BNBs here. Some more desirable than others. All of them, to be completely honest, are barely standing.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lmxvfdyl.jpg[/img]
But the views from the tailings pile above town are spectacular in the dog days of summer, or any time for that matter. The structures left around the site have relics within both sacred and profane and attest to a continued presence over the years. This bunkhouse always has open beds. Though the previous guest must have been raised in a barn.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/MsfMAAFl.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Om477VBl.jpg[/img]
There remains the foundation for the power plant which supplied electricity to machinery when there was a milling and ore processing going on in Tunnel Camp. All that’s left are threaded iron erupting from the fracturing concrete.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/3ahJ4bnl.jpg[/img]
There are ghost stories of Tunnel Camp. Nothing concrete, only youtube videos and blog posts alluding to malcontent spirits inhabiting the site. When you poke your head in this dugout and see the clothes hanging from pegs the ghost stories seem plausible. As natural as the wind.
The kids love these places as much as a carnival. More even. And they run, and climb and explore in ways that dont look safe.
As the mountain descends through town and becomes alluvial fan, there are a number of artifacts and sites to check out. But there is once thing missing.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/t2IzlLUl.jpg[/img]
A year ago we visited Tunnel Camp in the Spring and checked out a cool old truck body, as it slowly blows away in the desert wind. We sat in it and climbed on it. Cut ourselves on the jagged bullet holes in its skin. Looked back in time through its iron lens.
Its gone now, like the other trucks that once were in the town parking lot and all that was left when we visited was a patch of weeds now free from their metal oppressor and some tire tracks visible from the air. By now, even those signs are gone.
A more cynical man than me might assume someone came along and hauled it off. Maybe some pandemic nomad out for an Instagram decided to wrestle it into a van. Could be some luxury homeowner decided it would look fabulously rustic as a derelict visual interest piece on their suburban property. Or maybe the bullet holes overcame the sheet metal and it all gave way to the void.
Its more likely that the Ghosts of Tunnel Camp, finally had enough of the rat race, started it up and drove themselves away.
We followed the old Fords tire tracks as far as the cemetery. Where the ghosts of Tunnel Camp might have stopped to pay their respects. Admire the ofrenda left by visitors to their barren graves. Take one last look at their home and start down that dirt road that bumps out of town, and over a pass and on to who know where.
Water in the desert is a sign you going the right way. Heading West past Vernon and Porter Spring, we crossed the big valley and made camp for the night near the back side of the Selenite Mountains at a place called Desert Spring. This was our first night all sleeping together in the roof top tent. I’d slept in it with the kids, and separately with Danielle, but not all together. We’ve always used a ground tent. There’s no particular reason we want to sleep up off the ground, it’s just that it’s fast and easy to set up.
As I was setting it up, and leveling it out, I heard the familiar buzz of a rattle snake at my feet. There was a little one slithering under the truck for protection. I generally don’t take to killing snakes, and this was no different. But as I can’t have our deaf old dog stumbling around a snake, I got out the shovel and relocated out cold blooded friend to the sage. That did make climbing the ladder a lot more palatable though.
Nightengale is a Tungsten Mine in Pershing County, Nevada. The mine produced from 1917 to 1956. There are a lot of tripping hazards and open pits, but not a lot of other cool stuff to see. The easy way out is to head south down Coyote Canyon which empties out into Winnemucca Dry Lake and State Route 447. But Id been doing some recon on Google Earth and It looked to me like there was a more direct route straight through the Nightengales. It was kinda iffy for sure, though I didnt tell the family that. Overlanding Nevada: Tunnel Camp to Nightengale Mine](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s4YFJ4U_wjQ/mqdefault.jpg)


