If you can find a parking space near Emerald Bay, the rewards are great, with incredible views, beaches, hiking trails and waterfalls all nearby. Photos by the author.
The mountain ranges to the south of Reno, Nevada, are a playground full of great rides. Today?s will take me up to Virginia City, down to Carson City (the Nevada state capital), up to and around Lake Tahoe and then back down to Reno. It?s still early in the season, so there shouldn?t be too much tourist traffic on the roads yet. In other words, I?m hoping the road more traveled is the road less traveled today.
The overlook above Nevada State Route 342 provides a view of one of the Gold Hill mines. During the mining boom of the 1870s, Gold Hill reached a population of 8,000. Now a near ghost town, its population has dropped below 200. Heading south out of Reno on Virginia Street, I take a right on Foothill Road for breakfast at Squeeze In. It offers about a hundred different omelets in addition to other standard breakfast fare. Back on Virginia Street heading southbound, I roll through a few more streetlights until the residential area starts to become speckled with more commercial, industrial and sagebrush covering. Turning left on Nevada State Route 341, Geiger Grade Road, the ride really begins. Over the next 13 miles, I wind my way up the mountain toward Virginia City. It?s important to watch for suicidal wild horses on this stretch, as they aren?t always as street savvy as they should be, and a close enco...