twice as nice

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Plenty of well-known Western venues offer great sledding, scenery and hospitality, but a less well-known Nevada site delivers a dramatic sledding twofer.

Elko, in northeastern Nevada, offers spectacular mountain vistas and powdery off-trail riding, plus great food and bright casinos for after-hours fun.

That's one twofer, but there's double the sledding fun here because you get completely different riding experiences depending whether you head north or south out of town.

I arrived with a group of media folks last February for an event run by the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority. Our host was Don Cox, who with his wife Carol, operates RV Rentals Inc., which offers a variety of sleds at a daily rate. Don also is involved in marking key sled routes in the national forest, as a basic network is being established for easier access to prime riding locations.

The history
Elko, founded in 1868, is an old mining town located on I-80 between Salt Lake City (230 miles east) and Reno (300 miles west). During the last 135 years, the fortunes of Elko have risen and fallen with the cyclical mining business. The last couple of years it has enjoyed a boom as a result of gold's price soaring. There are more than half a dozen open pit and underground gold mines within 150 miles of Elko and they're bustling, as is the city.

 A longtime gambling center, Elko is well equipped for visitors with casinos and numerous hotels. We stayed at the Red Lion, a spacious hotel with all the amenities, including slot machines and gaming tables.

Good restaurants abound too, but my No. 1 is the Star Hotel, where sumptuous dinners feature cuisine from the Basque region of Spain and France. It's the perfect place to indulge after a good day of riding. Just to make sure, I visited the place twice!

This is Nevada's high desert region, a largely open, arid country with several mountain ranges (most running north-south) and teeming national forests. The town is in the Humboldt River Valley at 5,060 feet, with the nearby Independence, Adobe, Jarbridge and Ruby Mountains rising thousands of feet higher. So snow really piles up.

Yet trails are few, so county and forest service roads are sufficient to allow access to remote locations, providing endless off-trail riding options.

I spent 3 days riding as part of a media group, but unlike the others, I stayed an extra day to head south thanks to the hospitality of Cox.

North: Varied terrain
The first 2 days were spent 70 miles north of town, with our jumping-off point being the Wild Horse Ranch & Resort, a remote, rustic frontier establishment bordering the frozen Wild Horse Reservoir. This is the only place for miles offering food, drink and fuel, so it's a starting place for many backcountry excursions.

Our riding was largely in the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest and was almost all cross-country travel. If you think of a national forest as having a lot of trees, this one will surprise you!

The variety of terrain was immediately noticeable. I saw vast, rolling areas devoid of vegetation as far as the eye could see, conjuring up images of Antarctica. Other areas had sparsely scattered trees, many gnarled and weather-beaten. In some places, the vast snowfields were interrupted by brown rock formations poking through the snow, the most prominent of which was the Point of Rocks.

A series of low peaks dotted the area and the firm snow conditions (with 4 inches of powder on top) allowed us to climb to the summits for panoramic vistas. Best was Merritt Mountain (8,789 ft.), which afforded us a view of the distant Jarbridge and Independence Ranges, as well as a look into Idaho.

Forest service roads provide easy access to the hinterlands, as well as points of reference for explorations. We enjoyed sunny skies and unlimited visibility with the benefit of a knowledgeable host, but this is definitely a place where outsiders would benefit from a GPS device. Carrying extra gas in this remote country also is advisable. Being in a fairly large group that was taking a lot of photos, we covered just 71 miles and 67 miles in our 2 days of riding, staying well within our fuel range.

South: More spectacular
Riding south of Elko on the 3rd day was totally different. Just 15 miles south of the city are the rugged Ruby Mountains, a series of craggy, Alpine-like peaks that are a contrast to the less spectacular ranges to the north. Our tour began from a roadside trailhead that provided access to beautiful Lamoille Canyon, a classic glacial-formed valley that is a top attraction here.

The snow-covered road was our primary route as we climbed to higher altitudes, following the river's path up the valley. On either side were rocky cliffs and stony peaks, yet there was enough open space for some powder runs. Several areas offered opportunities to play on steep hillsides amid scattered pine trees.

After a dozen miles of scenic climbing, the payoff came with our arrival at a huge box canyon, where steep rock walls marked the valley's spectacular end. Although it was obvious we were near the top, there was a side route to an even higher peak and we took it. After a short climb, we were near the end of the line, a high point that offered a great view far beyond the Ruby Mountains.

With a wilderness area on the down-slope side, this was as far as we could go. All too soon it was time to head home, with plenty of opportunity to play on the snowy slopes as we worked our way down the canyon. The ride was only 32 miles, but it was high-quality riding with outstanding scenery every mile.

For more info on northeastern Nevada, contact the Elko Convention & Visitors Authority at www.elkocva.com or 800-248-ELKO. For sled rentals, contact RV Rentals, 775-753-7362.