Nevada State Parks

Located in an uninhabited, hilly region in the far east next to the Dixie National Forest in Utah, Beaver Dam is the most remote state park in Nevada. The preserve covers four miles of the deep, wooded canyon of Beaver Dam Wash, which features extensive outcrops of volcanic rocks, small waterfalls and warm springs, and the remains of a pioneer settlement, Hamblin Ranch. It also covers the lower end of the cliffy tributary of Pine Park Canyon and offers an array of outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, fishing for rainbow trout, camping, picnicking, and wildlife watching. The park is a designated Watchable Wildlife Area and is home to porcupines, coyotes, bobcats, jackrabbits, mule deer, and the occasional mountain lion.

Beaver Dam, Panaca, NV 89042, Phone: 775-728-4460

Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park is a state park and public recreation area that was established to protect and preserve undisturbed ichthyosaur fossils and the historic ghost town of Berlin in northwestern Nye County. Resting on the slopes the Shoshone mountain range in central Nevada at an elevation of 7,000 feet and covering more than 1,100 acres, the park is home to the true Nevada ghost town of Berlin, a town built in the 1890s that is preserved in a state of arrested decay. The park is also home to an abundant concentration of fossils from Ichthyosaurs, an ancient marine reptile that once swam in the ocean that used to cover what is now central Nevada. Activities in the park include hiking, picnicking, camping, and guided tours of the fossil sites and the ghost town.

Berlin-Ichthyosaur, State route 844, Austin, NV 89310, Phone: 775-964-2440

Situated on the shores of the Colorado River in southern Clark County, Big Bend of the Colorado is a state park and public recreation area that offers miles of sandy shoreline and clear waters for swimming, sunbathing, fishing, camping, and other outdoor activities. Located within the city of limits of Laughlin in the Lower Colorado River Valley, the family-friendly park is downstream from Davis Dam, providing water that is cool and clear year-round and home to a wealth of waterfowl and shorebirds such as coots, mallards, herons, and geese. The nearby town of Laughlin offers the amenities of a Nevada gaming town, such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and nightlife.

Big Bend of the Colorado, 4220 Needles Hwy, Laughlin, NV 89209, Phone: 702-298-1859

Romantic Nevada State Parks

Covering more than 1,600 acres in a long, narrow valley in Lincoln County, Cathedral Gorge State Park features dramatic landscapes of eroded soft bentonite clay where erosion has carved dramatic and unique patterns. The state park and public recreation area is a renowned geologic preserve with cave-like formations and cathedral-like spires that date back tens of millions of years and is a photographer’s dream. Located one mile north of the town of Panaca, Cathedral Gorge State Park offers a variety of activities, including hiking, picnicking, camping, and nature study.

Cathedral Gorge State Park, 111, Cathedral Gorge State Park Road, Panaca, NV 89042, Phone: 775-728-4460

Cave Lake State Park is a 4,000-acre state park and public recreation area next to the Humboldt National Forest in the Schell Creek Range. Located five miles southeast of Ely at an elevation of 7,300 feet, Cave Lake is home to a 32-acre reservoir which offers boating, fishing, swimming, craw-dadding, hiking, picnicking and camping. Open year-round, the park’s facilities campgrounds, picnic areas, hiking trails, and a boat launch, and it boasts outstanding scenic views and spectacular natural scenery for nature study and photography. Winter sports include cross-country skiing, ice fishing, and ice, and snow sculpting is growing in popularity.

Cave Lake State Park, US Highway 93-Success Summit, Ely, NV 89301, Phone: Phone: 775-728-4460

Located at the foot of the Virginia Range, on the banks of the Carson River, the Dayton State Park is a 152-acre state park and public recreation area in the town of Dayton, 12 miles east of Carson City that offers a variety of recreational activities and outdoor pursuits. The park is divided into two sections by the U.S. Route 50, namely the Lower and Upper sections, each with their character and features. The Lower part offers excellent walking and hiking trails along the banks of the ever-changing Carson River, dense woodlands that teem with birds and wildlife, a campground, and group picnic areas. The Upper section is home to the site and the remains of the Rock Point Stamp Mill, a remnant of Dayton’s mining glory days, which was built in 1861 to process silver ore mined from the Comstock Lode in Silver City and Virginia City.

Dayton State Park, US-50, Dayton, NV 89403, Phone: 775-687-5678

Straddling the border between eastern California and Nevada, Death Valley National Park is a land of extremes. Set in a below-sea-level basin, Death Valley experiences extreme heat and steady drought in the summer and snow and rare rainstorms in the winter, creating a vast diversity of fauna and flora in one of the harshest landscapes in the world. Established as a national monument in 1933 and as a national park in 1994, Death Valley National Park is the most significant U.S. National Park outside Alaska, spanning 3.4 million acres with more than 1000 miles of paved and dirt roads. The Park is made up of a variety of landscapes, ranging from low valley floors crusted with barren salt flats, deep and winding canyons, spring-fed oases that teem with wildlife, rolling dunes, and high, rugged, snow-capped mountains. Famous attractions in the Park include Titus Canyon, Badwater Basin’s salt flats, Telescope Peak Trail, the Devil’s Golf Course, and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, CA 92328, Phone: 760-786-3200, Video

Nevada State Parks for Families with Kids

Echo Canyon State Park is a 65-acre reservoir and state park that showcases the beauty of Eastern Nevada with an array of year-round recreational opportunities and great outdoor activities to enjoy. Home to a variety of waterfowl, including mallards, teals and herons, the reservoir is also filled with rainbow trout, crappie, largemouth bass, and German brown trout and offers excellent fishing. Other activities in the park include camping, boating, swimming, picnicking and hiking the 2.5-mile Ash Canyon trail, which leads into the park’s backcountry.

Echo Canyon, Pioche, NV 89043, Phone: 775-962-5103

Fort Churchill State Historic Park is a state park that protects and preserves the remains of a 1860s United States Army fort, as well as an old waystation that was located on the famous Pony Express and Central Overland Routes. Located south of Silver Springs town in Lyon County, Fort Churchill State Historic Park has a visitor’s center with informative exhibits on the history of Fort Churchill, and the Native Americans that inhabited the area. Facilities in the park include a 20-site campground on the banks of the Carson River, group-camp and day-use picnic areas, hiking trails, and a self-guided trail with interpretative signs around the fort ruins.

Fort Churchill State Historic Park, 10000 US-95 ALT, Silver Springs, NV 89429, Phone: 775-577-2345

Spanning nearly 300,000 acres into the enchanting Mojave Desert, Gold Butte National Monument is a national monument located in Clark County that encompasses striking and rugged landscapes in an extremely remote section of southeastern Nevada. Situated south of Mesquite and Bunkerville, the monument and park is home to a wealth of breathtakingly beautiful and striking terrain made up of twisting canyons of dramatically chiseled red sandstone, other-worldly rock formations, and tree-clad mountains. The area is world-renowned for beautiful rock art and thousands of petroglyphs dating back over 12,000 years and traces back to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians and the Las Vegas Paiute Tribes who inhabited the region. Visitors to the monument can also explore the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway and the mining ghost towns or tour the area’s peaks and canyons on horseback.

Gold Butte National Monument , Gold Butte, NV 89007, Phone: 702-883-7777