Ely Nevada & Surrounding Area

During this leg of our trip we explore two state parks, take a sunset train ride, travel one of Nevada’s best kept secrets, discover a small town through it’s mural walk, and marvel at the night sky while it puts on a dramatic display.

Cave Lake State Park

Located southeast of Ely Nevada in the Schnell Creek Mountain Range this 1,240 acre park offers a multitude of recreational activities year round. We came for the sunsets, hiking, and dark skies. Normally there’s a large reservoir here that has many different water activities; but the dam is currently undergoing restoration. So, it’s much quieter than normal; which is wonderful. Especially over the busy Labor Day weekend!

Lake View Campground

This small campground has well groomed sites going all the way up the hillside from the lake. The road is pretty tight; but once we’re in, we have a large, fairly private site, near the top, with incredible 360 degree views.

Cave Springs Loop

This morning we head out on one of the many hiking trails offered within the park. The Cave Springs Loop is a 5 mile, 747 foot elevation change hike that traverses along the currently empty reservoir. Passing interesting rock formations, then meandering along Cave Creek, and it’s beautiful meadows beyond. Once we reach the head of Cave Creek at Cave Springs, we turn up into the hills to find more unique rock formations, incredible views, and finally abundant aspen groves as we descend the other side of the mountain on the way back to camp.

Southwestern panoramic view from the top of the trail.

Dark Skies

The dark skies from this campground offer an incredible view of the Milky Way, various constellations, and planets. We’re lucky enough to also see a few meteors streaking across the night sky. You can see the full overnight time lapse on our YouTube page by clicking here; but we’ve included a still of the Milky Way with a meteor streak below.

Ward Charcoal Ovens SP

This beautiful Historic State Park, known for it’s beehive-shaped charcoal ovens is located about 18 miles south of Ely, within the Egan Mountain Range. The park also offers hiking, camping, and a few day use picnic areas.

Charcoal Ovens

The ovens were built to reduce pinyon pine and juniper trees into charcoal for use in the local silver mine smelters. The ovens operated from 1876 through 1879; which were the silver boom years of the Ward Mining District. Legend says they were also later used by bandits as temporary hideouts. Given the shade and cooler temperatures offered inside the ovens, it’s not hard to believe this is true. The small openings in the top and sides of the ovens also makes them ideal for releasing smoke from campfires while simultaneously shielding the light they create.

Overlook Loop & Nature Trails

After touring the Charcoal Ovens, we head up the Overlook trail where we find an unexpected bone, some incredible views, the ruins of the Kilns used to make the bricks for the Charcoal Ovens, and information boards showing the history of the area. We also encounter a herd of cows with calves along Willow Creek while on the Nature trail. We patiently wait for the cows to move as we know they can be aggressive when protecting their young. However, half of them end up going further down the trail. So, we have to wait for them several times; and even end up surrounded by them at one point. Which is a very uncomfortable feeling. We quietly stand back to back, so we can see in all directions, until they realize we’re no threat and vacate the path, allowing us to continue on our way.

Train Ride

Tonight we set off to experience the Nevada Northern Railway’s Sunset, Stars, and Champagne train ride from Ely.

Depot

We arrive a little early so we can explore the depot while awaiting our train. As the Nevada Northern Railway website says… “Time stopped here. It’s as if the workers went to lunch and never came back. They left behind a complete railroad, now a National Historic Landmark; the grounds include over 70 buildings, structures and 30 miles of track.” It’s a sight to behold and definitely worth experiencing.

Train

There are regularly scheduled train rides as well as several themed train rides offered throughout the year. There are a few different engines in use, restored 1920’s passenger cars, and open air cars converted for viewing purposes.

Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train Ride

All aboard!!! It’s time for our train ride. As we leave the depot, we head out of town and begin chugging along a smooth section of rail tracks into Nevada’s high desert country, above the Steptoe Valley. Once dusk hits, we see several jackrabbits, a donkey, and a herd of cows along the line. Then we’re served champagne and freshly baked cookies while we experience an incredible sunset, made even more dramatic by the clouds.

Once the sun sets and the stars come out, so does a Caltech undergrad to lead us through a presentation about the night sky. Like we experienced at Crater Lake, he uses a laser pointer to highlight several stars, a few constellations, a planet, and the Milky Way. As the presentation continues, the sky begins to clear, allowing us to see more and more. Once complete, he spends quite a bit of time answering questions. Some serious, some ridiculous, and some very humorous. Regardless of the question, he handles it all very well, and adds knowledge wrapped in humor to our experience.

McGill, NV

Drugstore

Today we head out to do the Success Loop Scenic Drive. Which we choose to begin just north of McGill Nevada, where there is an old drugstore that’s been turned into a museum. In 1979 the pharmacist died unexpectedly; and his distraught wife just locked the door and walked away, leaving all the products on the shelves. Once she passed, their children, recognizing the historic value of this unique time capsule, donated the store, in it’s entirety to the White Pine Museum. We planned to stop and see it; but it’s unexpectedly closed due to the holiday weekend.

Spring

Just north of the drugstore is a large natural spring that has been a very popular swimming area since the 1930’s. The geo-thermally heated pool has been developed over the years and offers many modern amenities. It’s also a very popular place during the holiday weekend, so we opted to continue on to the scenic drive instead of taking a look.

Success Loop Scenic Drive

This 38 mile scenic drive is one of Nevada’s best kept secrets. It provides excellent views throughout, and offers many camping opportunities in addition to a multitude of side roads, for those who wish to explore off the main path. The Schell Creek Range to the east offers a wonderful scenic backdrop as we begin the drive. We pass ranches, developed campgrounds, mountain views and streams. After about 15 miles, the road turns to well groomed gravel, before beginning a moderately steep ascent, through aspen groves, up to Success Summit Pass. Once we reach Summit Pass, we take one of the side roads up to Success Summit. Where we’ll have excellent views of the Schell Creek Range and the nearby Steptoe Valley. Which we traversed on the train last night.

We reach the saddle, where we get out to take some pictures and let a couple of side by sides (UTV’s) go by. We wanted to go all the way up to the summit; but the rain clouds are threatening on all sides. So, we do the responsible thing and head down, before the narrow dirt road we’re on becomes a slip and slide.

And yes, it does rain on us all the way down the mountain back to Cave Lake SP. So, we definitely made the right decision to turn around when we did.

Guarding the flock of sheep we pass on the way down is a very large, very aggressive sheep dog. Luckily one of the locals who passed us going the other direction, warned us he was there, and told us how to get around him without incurring damage to our truck. Thank you!

Ely Mural Walk

On our last day in the area, we head into Ely for brunch at the historic Hotel Nevada before beginning the city mural walk, which leads us all over historic downtown Ely. Along the way, we learn that at the turn of the century, Ely Nevada is where the world came together. Job opportunities offered in mining and by the railroads brought people from almost every country around the world. It was the most culturally diverse area in the west and each mural tells a story of that historic time. They each have a plaque showing the unique number assigned, which corresponds to the map you can pick up from the visitors center as well as a central phone number you can call to hear the full story of each mural. There are currently 32 murals in Ely with one in McGill and one in Baker.

The first 28 murals and their associated stories can also be found on the Ely Nevada public art project website.

Other sites in Ely

In addition to the murals, Ely offers a few other interesting sites around town.

• The Renaissance Sculpture Park & Maze contains six sculptures and a labyrinth maze
• The old County Courthouse is a very well preserved, regal building built in 1908

As we were finishing the mural walk, it begins to rain, so we decided not to visit the Renaissance Village located just north of downtown.

Given how small and out of the way Ely is, there is a surprising amount of things to see and do here. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Next stop… Great Basin National Park