Candi L. Swinscoe: Rascal's Roadshow: Nevada Attractions

Rascal’s Roadshow 🚐🐾

While many visit Nevada for the bright lights ✨, flashy shows 🎭, and glitz of Las Vegas 🎰—or just to drop a few coins into the one-armed bandits at roadside casinos 🏨—there’s so much more to explore for the adventurous at heart! 🌄

Rascal is always up for a new adventure!

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park 🔥🏺

Before each trip, I do my research. Sure, binge-watching Castle or Bones 📺 in the trailer sounds fun, but we’d rather get out and see something new! 🗺️ I always schedule an extra day or two at each stop just in case a local tips us off to a “must-see” attraction.

From our Ely KOA campsite, we took a short drive 🚗 down Highway 50—aka the Grand Army of the Republic Highway—before turning onto a well-maintained dirt road leading to Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park. Never heard of it? You’re not alone! It’s a hidden gem 💎—a little slice of history standing in the middle of nowhere.

These were much larger than expected.

These beehive-shaped ovens 🍯 were used between 1876 and 1879 to reduce pinyon pine and juniper into charcoal, which was then used for smelting ore. I won’t pretend to understand the science 🔬, but if you’re curious, Google is your friend!

This will give you an idea just how
much wood was burned inside each oven.

All in all, the ovens were an incredible sight 👀—especially when you consider they were built by hand nearly 150 years ago by hardworking men earning what I’m sure were very small wages. A fascinating piece of Nevada’s past! ⏳

Great Basin National Park 🏞️🌌

While Great Basin National Park spans parts of Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah, the visitor center was just an hour from our Ely campsite. We made the drive after visiting the ovens. The landscape may be desert, dotted with scruffy brush 🌿, but it has a rugged beauty of its own. The surrounding mountains looked like they’d been dusted with powdered sugar ❄️, adding depth and character.

Todd being silly, while Rascal is serious about
his national park visits!

The Great Basin Visitor Center in Baker was closed 🚪, but we continued up to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center (more on that in a minute). The center had clean restrooms 🚻, a small gift shop 🛍️, two friendly staff members 😊, and a mini-museum. Wheeler Peak, which was covered in snow this time of year, so we couldn’t drive all the way up. We made it to Upper Lehman Creek before heading back down.

Now, about those caves—I love visiting caves and caverns ⛏️, but I had no idea Lehman Caves existed until we arrived in Ely. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to tour them this time, but we’ll be back in May to check them out! The museum gave us a sneak peek, and my favorite part was the speleothem (those cool mineral formations like stalactites and stalagmites) 🦇. One side was encased and pristine, while the other was exposed so visitors could touch it. I’ve included a photo 📸 to show how oils from our hands affect these formations.

Good reason to keep our hands to ourselves!

Fun Facts About Great Basin National Park (Which, By the Way, Is FREE to Enter! 🎉)

One of the Least-Visited National Parks – Despite its beauty, it remains one of the most peaceful and uncrowded parks in the U.S. 🏕️
Lehman Caves – Home to intricate stalactites, stalagmites, and rare shield formations found in few caves worldwide. 🏔️
Wheeler Peak (13,063 feet) – One of Nevada's tallest mountains, featuring breathtaking views, challenging hikes, and even small glaciers! ❄️
Ancient Bristlecone Pines – Some of the oldest trees on Earth, over 4,000 years old! 🌲
Darkest Skies in the U.S. – An International Dark Sky Park, perfect for stargazing. 🌠
Unique Ecosystem and Wildlife – From desert sagebrush to alpine tundra, home to mountain lions 🦁, marmots 🐿️, bighorn sheep 🐏, and even unique cave-dwelling species.

Garnet Hill Rockhound Area 💎⛏️

This wasn’t on our original itinerary, but a friendly KOA employee showed us a handful of almost black garnets she’d collected from Garnet Hill, so we had to check it out. I bought a pickaxe, a sifter, grabbed my gloves, glasses 🤓, and water, loaded up Rascal 🐕, and off we went while Todd plugged the location into Google Maps.

Rascal catches up on a little beauty sleep.
Sightseeing can be exhausting.

Google led us to an unmarked dirt road. Odd, but we pressed on—navigating a narrow, bumpy path past an old dumping site 🗑️, through mud 🌧️, and up a very steep hill ⛰️. Todd locked in 4WD, and up we went. The truck got brushed by tree branches 🌿, and soon, even Todd was wondering what was around the next bend. And that’s saying something. This is the man who has:

High-centered us on a sand dune at Pismo Beach 🏖️.
Balanced us on two wheels in Hollister Hills 🏜️.
We had to winch ourselves out of the snow (pulling down a tree in the process) 🌲.
We had to dig out of snowdrifts multiple times ⛄.
And slid us down an icy hill at terrifying speeds ❄️.

Life with Todd is never boring! 😅

This photo doesn't do this narrow, steep road, and justice!

Back to the adventure—Todd scouted ahead while I double-checked my phone 📱 and read a review praising the well-maintained road to Garnet Hill. Yep, we were definitely on the wrong road. After Todd pulled off some impressive backing maneuvers 🚜, we turned around and found the actual entrance—a much smoother (but still a little muddy) drive with a sign, parking area, restroom 🚻, and picnic tables.

The actual entrance: a nice wide, although muddy, road...

...and an sign is....a good sign!

Todd took Rascal for a walk 🐕 while I grabbed my gear: bucket, pickaxe, sifter, water, granny glasses 👓 (so I could actually see the garnets), and my step stool. Because let’s be real—I’m almost 63, getting up and down isn’t as easy as it used to be, but more importantly the ground was muddy and covered in snow! 🧓

Both these guys are always a good sport.

I could hear Todd and Rascal crunching around in the distance while I stared at the dirt, realizing I had no clue what I was looking for. I found some dug-out spots and slid and slipped my way up a hill, gaining traction only on the snow patches. I plopped down on my step stool and started digging.

Three holes and thirty minutes later, I admitted defeat. garnet hunting was not for me. I packed up my $20 pickaxe and $7 sifter 💰, took in the gorgeous views 🌄, and decided that next time, I’ll just enjoy a picnic here instead. 🍎

Next on Rascal’s Roadshow: Declo, Idaho! 🐾

Enjoy a few more photos from our park visits:

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park: