Have you camped near Nevada's high wildernesses?

The town of Jarbridge was pretty cool 40 years ago. We traveled from Twin Falls, ID to fight a forest fire near Mary's River and it was no stress making it there in 2wd. The area is pretty neat and obviously remote. I would like to go back now that I'm somewhat close to the area.

The BLM and USFS travel plan maps will give good info about when, where, and which vehicles can travel.


Jarbidge Ranger District

Jarbidge is important in regards to RS 2477.
WonderHussy just did a video there last week.
enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFCZCThZt_4

profdant139 wrote:
Nevada is not all sand and cactuses (cacti??) -- there are several "islands in the sky," high altitude wilderness areas with streams (sometimes) and trees (at least for now). The Arc Dome Wilderness and the Alta Toquima Wildernesses are two examples in central Nevada, and so is the Jarbidge area, in the far northern part of Nevada.

My question, of course, is about boondocking near those wilderness areas (and also about hiking trails into the wilderness). I can find little or nothing about them on the Web, which is not a good sign. I know those wilderness areas are far away from everything, which is just fine with me. But if it's too hot to camp, or if the roads are terribly rough, that is a different story.

So if you have any experience with those areas, I'd appreciate the benefit of your wisdom. Thanks in advance. (By the way, I'm not looking for info on the locations of boondocking sites -- just info about whether these destinations are feasible.)

Dan, the southwest parts of Utah have some spots like that too ... seemingly isolated islands of green mountain areas in desert parts of the state.

We visited one once that was I believe south and west of Salt Lake City out in the middle of nowhere and did some hiking there. It was surreal - like a beautiful mountain forest where one shouldn't be!

(I'm also fascinated by bodies of freshwater where lakes are not "supposed to be". I once went trout fishing in a small and remote desert lake in western Utah.)

Thanks! We've been to Great Basin twice -- it's amazing to find such a cool, green place in the middle of the desert. Terrific fall color, too.

But the lesser-known high places are really calling out to me -- I may just have to head out there and see what we can find.

I haven't spent much time camping near the wilderness areas of NV but I have spent a fair amount of time exploring the area.

Probably the most comprehensive look at all the wilderness areas in NV is at: https://www.nevadawilderness.org/designated_wilderness Scroll down the page and there are clickable links for NV WA's. Some links don't have a lot of info, but for others, you'll open a webpage for that wilderness where there are links for maps, trails, etc.

The high parts of the Ruby Mountains are unlike anything else for 100's of miles in either direction. (Many of the high wilderness areas are still pretty dry and stark even up top.) This website has descriptions of trails in the Ruby and East Humboldt Ranges: http://www.rubymountains.net/ (Note that some of the links don't work anymore.) The Ruby's remind me of parts of the high Sierras or some of the glaciated drainages deep in the Weminuche Wilderness.

Do check out Great Basin NP if you get in that area. Lehman Cave is interesting but there are some really good hikes there.

Note that some NFS CG's are off the beaten path and on weekdays, you'll likely be the only ones there. The vast majority of them are also free. Not boondocking, per se, but every bit as remote. Of course places like Angel Lake and Thomas Canyon in the Ruby's are full most nights.

If they interest you, NV has lots of natural hot springs. Do a search and you'll find ones that may be near where you will be travelling.

Thanks!! Some very useful pointers.

For determining if weather (temps) tend to be livable, we use this
Ventusky
The date bar near the bottom left lets you look at the temps for any area, any day, with hourly changes as you wish.
At least you can check an exact area and see temps at a couple of meters above ground level to see if the area is good based on elevation.

I have not yet camped in the Wilderness Areas.

I have camped for short stays on BLM land north and east of Reno and Pyramid Lake and north of I 80. Have also camped in winter north and northwest of Black Rock desert. This time of year it is very hot, dry and often strong gusty winds during the day starting around 10 to 11 AM and continue on into the night so I do not camp except spring, fall and winter months and then it is often windy and COLD at nights. Elevations between 4500 ft and 5500ft to 6000ft.

Main BLM/County roads are wide and washboard and secondary roads are usually narrow two wheel trails and often soft sand and/or rutted requiring 4x4. During my explorations I have backed up for many miles as the road/trail became impassable for even regular 4x4 truck.


If your desired locations are really high then day time temps may be not be a problem at this time of year. If you have generator and AC then even better.

This info maybe useful to others if not the OP

The only thing I can provide is advise on the Jarbidge area. We were planning on going, but a coworker who traveled there, advised on a four wheel drive to get there from the Idaho side (we are in the Boise, Idaho area). That's ok, because we've got a Jeep, but a tent would probably we our mode of accommodations. We have a small popup, tent, and our FW for different destinations. Haven't gone yet.