Silver State 500

Every August, Baja trucks rip through 550 miles of terrain through the remote and rugged reaches of the Great Basin. And while the official race course changes annual, the track is generally referred to as the Vegas to Reno race course. The Silver State 500 encapsulates the spirit of the Vegas to Reno course, traversing many of the same roads and trail along the California-Nevada border.

Route Overview

Trip Length & Season

Adventure Rating: Epic Trip Length: 551 miles, 4-6 days Season: The shoulder seasons of spring and fall are typically the best time to run this route. It's recommended to avoid this track after/during periods of moderate to heavy rainfall, which can make travel extremely dangerous. It may be possible to do portions of the route in winter depending on current conditions. Summer travel is not recommended given the high likelihood of triple digit heat. Beware of mud in spring, which can make travel treacherous.

Digital Maps & GPX Files

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• Silver State 500

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Technical Ratings & Terrain

Avg Technical Rating: 2

Peak Technical Rating: 5

Typical Terrain: Expect everything from well graded dirt and gravel roads, traveling through rocky and sandy washes, sections of deep sand, and plenty of secondary roads and two tracks.

Recommended Vehicle / Moto / Adventure Vans

Recommended Vehicle: Stock 4x4

Recommended Moto: A mid-sized or dual sport bike is best for this adventure given numerous areas of deep sand/silt, along with sections of corrugated, rocky, and loose terrain.

Adventure Vans: While Sprinter 4x4s can do many sections of this track, there are are numerous sections that traverse through deep and loose sand, along with rockier and off camber sections. You're welcome to give it a go, but prepared to turn around!

Fuel, Provisions, and Recommended Gear

Fuel: Fuel is plentiful throughout the route, typically never more than 30-40 miles away. Provisions: Provisions can be obtained in the same general vicinity as fuel. Gear: no specialized gear is recommended for this adventure.

Alternative Routes

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Camping Recommendations

There are literally thousands of dispersed camping sites along or near the track. Many of these sites are also marked within the GPX file. Some of our favorite areas to camp include:

• Big Dune

• Sand Mountain (during the week when the crowds are away).

• Silica ash-flow tuffs vicinity

• Alkalai flat hot springs

• Salt Wells vicinity

Discovery Points

Discovery points listed traveling from Las Vegas to Reno.

1. Amargosa Valley Airstrip

2. Lathrop Wells Cone

3. Big Dune

4. Beatty

5. Goldwell Open Air Museum

6. Bottle House

7. Rhyolite Ghost Town

8. Bullfrog Hills Lava Flows

9. Thorp's Well

10. Bonnie Claire House of Quotes

11. Tokop ghost town

12. Volcanic ash flow tuffs

13. Silica ash-flow tuffs

14. Goldfield

15. Santa Fe Saloon

16. Florence Mining Co. & Museum

17. International Car Forest

18. Alkalai Flat Hot Springs

19. Tonopah

20. Tonopah Historic Mining Park

21. Central Nevada Museum

22. Tonopah-Goldfield Railroad Turntable

23. Coaldale ghost town

24. Columbus

25. Pilot Mountains

26. Gabbs Valley sink

27. Rawhide Mine

28. Rawhide Cemetery

29. Salt Wells Basin

30. Bunejug Mountains

31. Carson Lake

32. Andesite & Basalt Flows

33. Hooten Wells PNX Station

34. Churchill Valley

35. Fort Churchill

36. Palmyra Mining District

37. Carson River

38. Virginia City

Land Managers & Other Resources

The Bureau of Land Management manages the vast majority of land along this route.

Permits & Papers

n/a

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Route Details

Mention the phrase "Vegas to Reno" to anyone from the world of off-road racing, and they'll immediately tell you this is one of North America's most infamous truck courses. The Best of the West Vegas to Reno race course snakes through 550 miles of the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, connecting Las Vegas and Reno. The Silver State 500 has been modeled around the Vegas to Reno track, incorporating many of the roads and trails used in years past (the course changes every year).

While the route can be driven in either direction, the route guide follows the classic direction of traveling from Vegas to Reno. The official track begins a little over 20 miles north of Pahrump. Here, the Silver State 500 traverses through the northern reaches of the Mojave Desert. As you travel northward, the mountains rise on your west, an impressive natural boundary that denotes the presence of Death Valley National Park only a dozen or so miles away. You may also see a series of dunes rising to the west near the Lathrop Wells Cone; this is Big Dune (discovery point), which is also a great place to camp.

Within the Basin Range province, the varied geology has led to an abundance of precious metals and minerals like gold, silver, and lithium. Hugging the western boundary of the province, many of these impressive geological features are on full display. And while you may have the inclination to blast through the desert, we highly encourage adventurers to take the time to check out the dozens of discovery points along the route. The Lathrop Wells Cinder Cone (discovery point) is part of the larger Death Valley volcanic field. As the Great Basin is being stretched apart, the crust fractures and magma escapes to the earth's surface. The crustal extension also explains the many north-south faults within Nevada, which have led to dozens of mountain ranges, or Basin Ranges.

Continuing northward, the track passes through the outskirts of Beatty (discovery point). Like many towns in Nevada, Beatty is intimately connected to the world of mining. Be sure to check out the town, where burros regularly congregate. Just a few miles west of town is the famed Rhyolite ghost town, one of the better-preserved ghost towns within Nevada. Within the old ghost town, you'll also find the Goldwell Open Air Museum (discovery point) and Tom Kelly's Bottle House (discovery point).

The Bullfrog Hills (discovery point) north of Beatty were once teeming with lava flows, which has led to a rather unique and colorful landscape that changes from black to green to red and desert khaki. After traversing the Bullfrog Hills, the track straightens out considerably, but you'll want to slow down to check out one of the desert's oddities, the Bonnie Claire House of Quotes (discovery point). Part of the disappearing Bonnie Claire ghost town, this quirky attraction features quotes on signs that cover a wide range of themes, from philosophical to comical. Nearby playas (dried lake beds) also provide for some fantastic camping when the ground is dry.

Beyond Bonnie, the track snakes through the mountains, passing through the Tokop ghost town (discovery point) and volcanic ash flow tuffs (discovery point). After zigzagging through the Montezuma Range, the track arrives in the once-bustling town of Goldfield (discovery point). If you'd like to learn more about mining in the area, the Florence Hill Mining Co. Museum (discovery point) is a must-visit. The track heads north towards Tonopah only to cut westward with a mixture of high-speed straightaways and slower-speed sections through the hills and mountains. You've now entered the reaches of the Great Basin desert, where Joshua Trees are replaced by an endless sea of sagebrush.

Not far from the Coaldale ghost town (discovery point), you'll encounter the Pilot Mountains, which present the highest elevation mountain pass along the track (approximately 8,015'). On the horizon, the massive Gabbs Valley comes into view. Parts of the valley remain a dried lake bed, while some of it is used for agriculture. Once you've reached Gabbs Valley, the final leg of the track comes into view. You'll pass through the volcanic basalt flows of the Cocoon Mountains while traveling past the Salt Wells Basin, which is a hotbed of geothermal activity. Now south of Fallon, Carson Lake appears on the northern horizon, which is where the Carson River goes to die (or to sink into the ground!).

The final stretch of the journey passes through a series of low-lying hills and mountains featuring more andesite and basalt lava flows (discovery point). As you close in on Dayton, the track follows the bumpy and rock-strewn trails past Como and the old Palmyra Mining District. To reach the end of the track, you'll need to follow the pavement as it winds through the canyon that leads to Nevada's most infamous mining town, Virginia City.

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