lahontan state recreation area

A great lake when there is water, 2015 will not be a banner year!! But there are still wild horses, and a great dam built in the early 1900's.

We were driving across country and had picked out this park for one night's camping. It took about 30 minutes to reach the park from I-80 and we were looking forward to staying in the rural area. When we got there, we found that not only was there no staff there, but there were also no other people/campers. The place was empty and desolate. It was kind of creepy. We also couldn't find the camping sites. We decided to leave and didn't camp there. I wish we'd called ahead to ask about conditions.

Stopped by this park on the way to Lake Tahoe as it is off Hwy 50 west of Fallon about 17 miles. It has a number of fee paid by envelope entrances ($7 for 7 day pass) since it encompasses such a large area. The lake is nice and the views quite scenic. It is a wildlife viewing area so you'll get treated to a variety of feathered species like white pelicans. There were decent restroom (outhouse) facilities scattered about and several boat ramps. There were a small number of campers who had motored down to the water's edge to camp as well as half a dozen fishermen scattered about the shoreline. One couple had even pulled their travel trailer down through the sand and had it set up just 10 ft off the water. A four wheel drive vehicle is almost a must if you want to cruise down that close otherwise the walk down to the water varies from 100 ft to 1/2 mile.The only detractor we found was the sporadic trash left behind by visitors. Rangers patrol the area but it is basically unsupervised. Sad that such a nice place is not taken care of but that is the tragedy of the commons.While the water is not clear it is fairly calm so would be a nice place for kids to experiment with paddle boarding or fishing. On the fishing note, be aware that warnings are posted that local fish have high levels of mercury and so folks are encouraged not to eat them. It is basically catch and return. Also bring plenty of water as we did not see any drinking stations.All in all it is a nice place complete with trails for hiking, bike riding, dirt bikes and ATVs.