Washoe Lake State Park, Nevada
September 14, 2025
Nevada can be a bit of an acquired taste. At first glance, the scrubby hills and dry sagebrush can be off-putting for those of us more accustomed to lush shades of green. But, each time we have been to Nevada, we have come to appreciate its unique beauty. And when entering the state from California, we definitely appreciate the beauty of lower-priced gasoline.
Our drive to Washoe Lake was not direct--we had a layover in the friendly town of Susanville, California where we stayed at the Lassen County Fairgrounds for a couple of nights.
More reminders of the 2021 Dixie Fire
Out of the burn zone
Our no-frills campsite at Lassen County Fairgrounds
The RV parking area was adjacent to an armory. We kind of felt a little like we were in prison.
Our view out the back of the camper--not the most amazing we have had, but we had a nice shade tree
It took us a long time to figure out where the RV park was because the office was closed on the weekend, and the map previously emailed to us by a staff member did not greatly resemble the actual lay of the land. We were helped by a friendly lady who was in another part of the fairgrounds for a cycling event, and we eventually managed to find where to park. Shortly after we got settled, another friendly person came over to invite us to a dutch oven cook-off later that afternoon. We politely declined, but we appreciated the gesture.
After a quiet and uneventful couple of nights, we headed toward Washoe Lake State Park in Nevada.
As we were leaving, we noticed that a corner of the ramp was dripping water (and it hadn't rained recently). That explains the warped deck flooring. We'll probably have to deal with this for real in Florida this winter.
Leaving Susanville
The brown, scrubby hills of Nevada grew on us after a while
Washoe Lake
Our campsite at Washoe Lake State Park
The sagebrush seemed to go on for miles and it completely filled the air with a pleasant fragrance
We had nice sunsets just about every night
We took it easy most days and didn't occupy ourselves with much of anything to write home about. One day, we walked to the lake from the campground. We were apparently lucky, as this year the lake did not completely dry up and become a mud pit as it does some years.
We decided the lake was more enticing from a distance, as there was a considerable amount of algae and foam visible from the beach.
Jackrabbit
California Scrub Jay
Julie took a lot of pictures of sunsets during our stay, and it was hard for her to pare them down. Here are the ones that made the cut:
Our campground loop
This wasn't exactly at sunset, but it was a nice break in the clouds between some rain showers.
Friday looked to be the nicest weekday (we try to avoid doing things on the typically more crowded weekends), so we chose that day to go to historic Virginia City.
A nice day for a drive
Virginia City--you can't get more "old west" than this (as long as you ignore the cars)
The statue of Lady Justice at the courthouse does not wear a blindfold. The visitor center docent told us that she isn't blindfolded because in the wild west of Virginia City, one was assumed guilty until proven innocent.
Realistic mural on this side of the building
The restaurant/bar of the Silver Queen Hotel
The Silver Queen, embellished with 210 lbs of actual silver dollars
A hallway inside the Silver Queen hotel
According to the visitor center docent, the Bucket of Blood Saloon is world famous. Not that we would be in the know about such things, but we hadn't heard of it before. They apparently serve "the best" bloody marys.
Just walking along the wooden sidewalks and taking in all the old stuff was quite the experience
Not suprisingly, this guy with the pet pig is well-known by the locals
The historic Saint Mary in the Mountains Catholic Church The visitor center docent said that a big church was needed because there were a lot of sinners in town.
Much of the funding for the church came from rags-to-riches tycoon John Mackay, one of the discoverers of the "Big Bonanza" at Virginia City
We had a good chuckle about the dynamiting the church bit, as that is the story that the visitor center docent told us.
Wow, no privacy at this confessional!
In the lower level of the church was a little museum.
Didn't many historic Catholic churches have there own version of "Mad Monks" during the 70s and 80s?. These guys were definitely ahead of their time!
We had lunch at the historic Palace Saloon.
It was kind of hard to get a decent picture of the "suicide table" through the glass.
Virginia City is perched high in the hills of the Virginia Range
The former Virginia Truckee rail line has been converted into a tourist attraction, but it no longer goes all the way to Truckee.
There seem to be old things strewn about in random places throughout town
We think Caterpillar should go back to its old logo!
Can't lose this manual!
Virginia City is quite hilly
The Firefighters Museum
The Mackay Mansion was built by the father of William Randolph Hearst and later sold to John Mackay. We were surprised how small the "mansion" was, since John Mackay was the wealthiest man in the world at one point. He would eventually have homes in San Francisco, New York, Paris, and London.
More random old stuff strewn about
Kind of cool to see what tires were made of
The drive back home
On Saturday, we took our bikes up the surrounding hills and through the day use area of the state park.
Our campground below
While riding around near the day use area of Washoe Lake State Park, we discovered a new kind of wildlife that we have not yet seen in our travels...
Wild horses!
That's all for now. Next stop--the Sierra Nevadas and Yosemite National Park!
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