Duke and I like to explore back roads. Through the Reno Newcomers Club we met another couple who also like to explore back roads. It probably is smart to have two vehicles when you are in the middle of nowhere on rough roads exploring. So last week the four of us took two vehicles and went to Lovelock and Lovelock Caves. The area is described in the Moon Handbooks Nevada Guide. Lovelock is about 90 miles east of Reno on interstate 80 and has a population of about 2000 people. It is the county seat for Pershing County and has a small round court house building. According to the Moon Handbook the court house is one of the only two round court houses in the country. We explored inside and went into the court room. The jury box is in the center of the room and the inside of the dome is painted to look like the sky.
We drove out to see the tufa formations north of town and then had a great lunch at the Cowpoke Cafe. They had homemade pies but we were too full for desert. Next time we stop there I am starting with pie!
The Lovelock cave is 20 miles south of Lovelock. It is a small cave but it has been excavated by archeologists. The cave was inhabited by Indians 4000 years ago when it was on the edge of a lake. The archaeologists found lots of artifacts including the oldest duck decoys ever found. From the cave we looked out over the Humboldt Sink where the Humboldt River ends. Most of Nevada is part of the Great Basin. None of the rivers or water in the Great Basin ever reach the ocean.
If you want to read the sign you can click on the picture.
We took a couple of wrong turns but eventually we found the dirt road heading southwest from the cave and took it to make a big circle back to Interstate 80 and home.
If you would like to see all of my pictures from this trip they are on Flickr here.
Recent Comments