Our latest road trip | Durango to Black Rock City and Back

We just completed our recent month-long RV road trip, here are the highlights and our come-back list of things we didn’t get to:

We left Durango and quickly headed to Nevada to get to Black Rock City, so we didn’t have a ton of time to explore on our way out, but we had plans to change that on the way back.

After leaving the Black Rock Desert where we participated in Burning Man, we took a road trip down the loneliest highway in America, HWY 50.

The first stop was a short hike and dog zoomies at the Sand Dunes, east of Fallon, NV.

We got our RV stuck here as I didn’t listen to Julie and didn’t stop in time. I spent about 30 minutes digging sand with hand while Julie took Alpha for some zoomies on the sand dunes. There is nothing that Alpha loves more than playing in sand.

Next was a quick stop in Eureka, NV, a town that we definitely want to come back to spend more time in (See comeback list below)

We grabbed lunch at Brunos in Ely, NV. A restaurant that let us use their salad bar to make a veggie sandwich. It was by far the best veggie sandwich we’ve had as we loaded it up with pretty much everything at the salad bar.

We camped overnight here, a nicely built free campground on a small lake. Winds were pretty wild here, which I imagine is the case often based on the windbreaks that are built at each of the campsites.

Day 2-4
Next on our list was our main destination in Nevada, Great Basin National Park. We explored the park briefly last year on our road trip but didn’t get to hike as much as we wanted. Last year we hiked the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail and had a wishlist of climbing Wheeler Peak Summit which is what we went for.

It was an incredible hike with stunning views once you get to the ridgeline. Nevada is so vast and this mountain allows you to see for hundreds of miles in all directions. The best part is that there were only about 8 other people on the entire hike, how often can you experience this on the most popular trail in a National Park?

What’s magical about the Great Basin NP is that it’s a dark sky preserve and you can see the best night sky in the lower 48 here. We felt like you could reach up and touch the milky way! We got super lucky because we stayed on the weekend of the full moon, when the sky is the darkest. The NP was having a lof of astronomers and experts give talks at the visitor center, which we didn’t make it to but want to attend next time.

On to Utah Days 5-10
We dropped into Utah next and decided to take an alternative route back through Bryce Canyon NP, then explored Slot Canyons near Escalante, hikes in Capitol Reef and then back home to Durango

Comeback list:

  • Stay in Eureka, explore the museum and the local businesses.
  • Stay in Ely, NV and hike the trails near town
  • Go to the hot springs near Austin, NV
  • Hike the Bristlecomb Pines trail in Great Basin NP
  • Visit the caves in the Great Basin NP
  • Hike to the Lexington Arch
  • Mountain bike the Aquarius trail system
  • E-bike around Bryce Canyon NP and stay at the lodge inside the park
  • Explore more slot canyons outside of Escalante, UT off the Hole in The Wall Rd
  • Camp between Escalante, UT and Boulder, UT
  • Hike more in Capitol Reef NP and do some canyoneering routes
  • Canyoneer in Hanksville UT or take a Canyoneering Course.