We just spent a week in Reno, NV, a place we've stayed briefly twice before. This year, unlike the past few years, the surrounding mountains were covered in snow and the rivers and streams were flowing fast and heavy and local lakes are full for the first time in a very long time. It was gorgeous!
Reno's slogan, "the biggest little city in the world", seems fitting. The freeway system works well to move people around with relative ease and the surface streets never seemed too congested (barring road construction) compared to what we are used to in Southern California.
The downtown
Riverwalk is pretty and thriving as is the funky, fun and tasty revival of the
MidTown District. There's
plenty of hiking both in town and within a short drive to keep us happy, though the heavy snow pack this year kept us close to town. Hans even played pickleball at a couple of locations during our stay.
We hiked (and played pickleball) at Hidden Valley Regional Park a couple of times. Great views and the possibility of running into "wild" horses made this a favorite.
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| Looking towards Tahoe from Hidden Valley Regional Park. |
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| We love coming over a hill and seeing wild horses! |
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| They hung out, very relaxed as we made our way around them and continued up the canyon. |
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When we came back down the canyon they hadn't moved far and a few were napping.
See Hans on the right? |
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| We move on and they couldn't care less! |
We hiked the lovely 6.5 mile White's Creek, Dry Pond, Jones Creek loop which brought us up to the snow line at about 7,000 feet.
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| Rose Mountain from Whites Creek Trail. |
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Dry Pond is not so dry this year!
Rose Mountain on the right, Rose Mt Ski area on the left. |
The Peavine Trails are not the prettiest trails, but they provide an excellent workout and expansive views.
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| N for Nevada seen from Evans Canyon Trail. |
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| Another day at Hidden Valley a different group of horses is resting in the wash with a great view of downtown Reno and Babbitt Peak in California. |
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| Riverwalk along the Truckee River. |
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I've posted a photo of this before, love this art!
It was at Burning Man some years ago. |
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| The flow through downtown Reno has been engineered for rapids, there is a kayaker in the center. |
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We noticed many businesses in the area had sand bags ready to go just in case.
The river has covered the viewing platform below Hans. |
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| Revision Brewing grand opening...good IPA's and live music! |
There are several breweries in Reno and we only managed to try one, the grand opening of
Revision Brewing, a tasty IPA focused venture. We also had an excellent healthy lunch at
Great Full Gardens in Midtown District. We'll see if we can try a few more places when we stop back through here in the fall.
On previous visits we have stayed at Grand Sierra Resort at their no frills RV park connected to the casino where we really enjoyed using the pool and the river trail adjacent to the RV park. This visit we stayed at Sparks Marina RV Park.
Sparks Marina RV Park is neat and tidy with close together sites and fake grass at every site. There's a nice two mile walk around the adjacent Sparks Marina Lake and Park and a short walk to the Sparks Outlet Center which also has a gigantic Scheels sporting goods store. It was an okay place to stay.
Next stop: Graeagle, CA
We've only passed through Reno and stayed overnight, but it definitely looks worthy of a longer visit! So fun to see you hiking with the wild horses—they were so relaxed! It's wonderful to see the river full and everything so green (for Reno, that is). :-)
ReplyDeleteReno is having a bit of a renaissance, according to edible Reno Tahoe it is becoming a foodie place too!
DeleteWow the river is really full! When I took a photo of that artwork, the water was trickling by. Seeing the wild horses would be a huge event for me, they're soooo beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe love all the water action we're seeing this year! Lets hope this isn't the only year that gets plenty of water for a while.
DeleteThe wild horses are beautiful ! The river with rapids sure adds a lot ! Not everyday you see a kayak making its way through town! Dry Pond looks so peaceful!
ReplyDeleteWe've seen several river towns in our travels that have engineered the town flow to have rapids for kayakers, even when the flow is fairly low.
DeleteWhat a thrill to see wild horses! Yes, the extreme snowpack is keeping lots of folks out of the mountains this spring.
ReplyDeleteI could hike among wild horses every single day!
DeleteI'm surprised how tame they are...till you try to ride them :).
ReplyDeleteHah! Since I'm not a horse person I keep my distance!
DeleteLooks like a fun town. I've never been there.
ReplyDeleteWell we are city folk, so it probably appeals to us a little more than you...I know you like your space! But the horses...!
DeleteReno is a town we typically drive on thru, just stopping for breakfast at Peg's Ham n Eggs. But hiking with horses?, that beats hiking with donkeys in AZ!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Carson City and Reno are both worth a stay!
DeleteYou really made the most of your stay! Lovely pictures. Which of the two parks would you stay at next time?
ReplyDeleteProbably Grand Sierra, neither are ideal (compared to a more natural setting), but the pool is quite nice at GSR, and the river trail access can't be beat.
DeleteFor a big city, we liked Reno, too. Those horses are too cute!
ReplyDeleteMt Rosa looks beautiful with all of that snow. You find the best hikes.
ReplyDeleteWe've only been to Reno for an overnighter on a motorcycle trip. Your Reno was very different. I love watching the rivers when they run high and so fast. We're seeing the same thing in all our travels. Those horses were wonderful! Love seeing them so comfortable. Glad you found some nice hikes near by.
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