Beginner Off-Road Trails Near Austin, Nevada

The historic Pony Express Trail is one of the few domestic overland routes accessible to the public. This route follows, as closely as possible, the original trail ridden over 160 years ago on horseback. Make…
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Climbing up out of Birch Creek Canyon to join Dry Canyon Road at almost 9,000 feet, this road is a well-maintained gravel Forest Service road. It features a small number of level dispersed camping spots…
Learn more about South Fork Birch Creek Road - NF43243

This unmaintained, two-mile mining road connects from the top of North Fork Big Creek to South Fork Birch Creek in the Toiyabe Mountains. It sees little use other than the occasional hunter or oddball explorer.…
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The North Fork Big Creek Road climbs 2,700' up out of Big Creek Canyon onto a hilltop summit at 8,800'. It is a little-used, unmaintained gravel road that gets steep at times, and low range…
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From its junction with Kingston Canyon Road at 8,740' at Kinston Summit, Big Creek drops steeply into Big Creek Canyon and follows its namesake to the North down out of the Toiyabe mountains. Portions of…
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Kingston Canyon Road is a 10-mile gravel Forest Service road that climbs up into the Toiyabe Mountains from Kingston, Nevada. It accesses numerous campgrounds, Grove Lake, and is the northernmost access point for the Toiyabe…
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The trail starts about 25 miles outside of Austin, Nevada, off Highway 50. It is an out-and-back trail taking you up to New Pass Peak at 9009 feet. You will travel along Gilbert Creek, which…
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This route takes you from just outside of Eureka Nevada at Hot Spring Hill to Mount Lewis. The route starts out taking you to Bartine Hot Springs, a funny little heart-shaped hot springs that in…
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This is a nice easy trail that takes you from Cold Springs station to the ghost town of Berlin. Berlin is a State park, OHV friendly, and also has an Ichthyosaur shed with fossils. The…
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This trail has a lot of washboards, rocked gravel/dirt roads. You can go a comfortable 40 MPH, if you air down, the ride can be smoother. This takes you below the old ranch homestead of…
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The route passes several interesting sites, including springs, mine sites, and biplane U.S. Airmail Service beacon sites. The trail does not have any difficult obstacles unless wet. What makes it difficult is that it is…
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There are 20+ military tanks left out in the desert of Dixie Valley. The road is flat and graveled. A car will have no problems. The tanks were placed on old homesteads by the Navy…
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This is a fast route that will get you from the trailhead to the Stillwater Range. Both ends of this route have some interesting mercury mines that still have structures and the furnaces used to…
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The trail starts on Earthquake Road off of Highway 50. This is not a difficult trail as it follows dirt roads most of the way, but it provides some nice desert scenery and follows a…
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The road to the Simon Lead mine is traveled via a well-maintained dirt road until the last 4 miles. The road then contains washed-out areas and narrow passages. According to https://www.nvexpeditions.com, small amounts of silver-lead…
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This is a super easy trail, with tons of offroading to explore. When we did the trail the snow melt was in full swing tons of water flowing in creeks everywhere. There are tons of…
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This is a quick spur off Coal Canyon Road to the Dodge-Ford iron mine. The road is a well-maintained gravel road that leads to an open pit mine. The pit is 200ft deep with water…
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This fun trail starts just off Highway 6. Make sure to close the gate each time you pass. This is a sixteen mile out-and-back adventure. The first six miles are relatively straightforward with some slightly…
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The route takes you from Sand Mt. Recreational Area to the Red Ant Mine. Red Ant Mine was an old tungsten mine. Not much of the infrastructure is left. There is a head frame, a…
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This route takes you to a Mercury Prospect. Not many remains of the old mining buildings, just a concrete floor. The main road is a well-groomed wash until it turn off onto an old mining…
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The route is easy to drive and can be done with almost any vehicle. However, if conditions are wet or snowy, the route is much more difficult. This is a nice half-day trip with several…
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The Byway itself it around 20 miles total, and is a point-to-point, U-shaped dirt road with two entrance/exit points marked by signs off Nevada Highway 6. You'll experience a mostly flat, graded road with a…
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From Winnemucca head south on Grass Valley Road for approximately 14 miles trail starts on the left, there is a waypoint at the turnaround point, after this point there are several very sketchy water crossings,…
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Did you know that Hawaii is not the only place to explore lava fields? But would you have guessed that one is in the middle of Nevada? This area of Nevada is actually part of…
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From Winnemucca head west on Rose Creek Road, and go south on Herschell for approximately 4.9 miles before asphalt runs to a maintained gravel road. Stay on this road for approximately 4.5 miles go west…
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This flat gravel road is well maintained. Lovelock Cave was in use as early as 2580 BC but was not intensively inhabited until around 1000 BC. People occupied Lovelock Cave for over 4,000 years. The…
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This is a fairly short route that takes you to Douglas Camp, an area of several mines. It loops out through Rebel Canyon. There are active mining claims if you continue up towards Thunder Mountain,…
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This easy route will reward travelers with scenic views and a trip back in history. Head deep into the hills of White Pine county to the remains of the historic Belmont Mill. The trail is…
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This route takes you from the Mina area to Little Huntoon Valley. It is easy and can be completed in dry conditions with a 2WD full-size vehicle. You cross Garfield Flat where Aerojet General uses…
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This route takes you from the Black Rock Desert playa through the Kamma Mountain Range and the Rye Patch Reservoir. Along this route, you will find hot springs, rock-hounding spots, and old placer mines. The…
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