Cultural Interest
Lovelock Cave Nature Trail - Brochure
Locklock Cave Backcountry Byway Self-Guided Tour - Brochure
Cultural Heritage - Black Rock Country is rich in history; it is home to numerous significant prehistoric and historic resources. Archeological sites are protected on public lands by federal law. It is illegal to remove or damage archeological materials, including, but not limited to historic structures, rock art, and stone flakes left over from primitive tool fabrication. Leave artifacts where they are so that others can see the story of the past. Removing or vandalizing artifacts limits their scientific value and the experience of future visitors. Take a picture or draw a sketch to help remember exciting finds. Respect seasonal closures to prevent impacts to the historic trails (High Rock Canyon during February through May).
Hardin City - Hardin City was a mining camp established in 1866 when prospectors thought they had found James Hardin’s lost deposit of silver. Excitement ran high, and investors, prospectors, and others swarmed to the area and erected two stamp mills. When no silver materialized, the town quickly disappeared. All that is left today are a few twisted pieces of metal and short segments of the stamp mills’ stone foundations.
A 4-wheel drive road leads to the site, which is marked with an interpretive sign placed there by the Oregon-California Trails Association.
Massacre Ranch - This historic site has a rustic cabin, wooden outhouse, corrals, and a loading chute. Stock drinking water is available at the corrals only during the cool seasons; by mid-summer visitors should bring water for their livestock. Road access to this site is generally good and there is sufficient room to park several horse trailers.
Stevens Camp - The remnants of an old buckaroo camp, Stevens Camp now includes a primitive three room cinder block cabin with a propane and wood stove (bring your own wood and propane, regulator, and fittings). Bunk beds, vault toilet, livestock water (non-potable for humans), corral and loading chute are present. Road access to this site is generally good and there is sufficient room to park several horse trailers. Dispersed camping sites are also in the area.
The Historic Trails - The first Euroamericans to enter this portion of what is now Nevada were a party of explorers led by John C. Frémont. During the winter of 1843-44, they traveled down High Rock Canyon and the West Arm of the Black Rock Desert to Gerlach and onto Pyramid Lake before making the first winter crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Sacramento Valley. The party was searching for the fabled "Buenaventura River" that was thought to provide navigable access to the Pacific Ocean. Although the party didn’t discover the fabled river, they did define the huge area of internal drainages now known as the Great Basin. They also laid the framework for the opening of the historic Applegate Trail.
The Applegate Trail - In 1846, the Applegate brothers traced a portion of Frémont’s route to establish an alternate trail to Oregon. There were a number of reasons for doing this; including, avoiding having to raft the dangerous Columbia River, and rumors of war with Great Britain over the border between Canada and the United States. If war became a reality, an alternate route for troop movements and retreat of civilian settlers would be needed. The trail was used for several years as the "South Road to Oregon." In 1848, Peter Lassen used the Applegate and blazed his own cutoff from it when returning from Missouri.
In the High Rock Canyon area there are still historic carvings and axle grease markings on the rocks reminding present day visitors of their arduous passage.
The Nobles Trail - In 1851, William H. Nobles discovered a shortcut from the Black Rock to Honey Lake Valley, California. In 1852, the new route was laid out, and in 1856 another shortcut passing Trego Hot Springs was established. In 1859-60, this route was later turned into a military road; the Fort Kearney, South Pass and Honey Lake wagon road. The Applegate and Nobles Trails are part of the California National Historic Trail.
