PLACES TO RIDE - NEVADA

Sand Mountain. You've heard of it... somewhere in Central Nevada. Well, It couldn't be easier to find or get to. Simply head across northern Nevada on Highway 50 and you'll see it. Sand Mountain is located 25 miles east of Fallon (100 miles east of Reno) on Highway 50 and offers 4800 acres of sand to roost. The mountain is 2 miles long and over 1/2 a mile wide, and it's a razorback... just to make things a little more exciting. The dirt road entrance that we've traveled in on is now paved! The entrance is on the north side of highway 50 and goes about 1½ miles to the main camping area where there are also a couple of out-houses. According to the BLM, the actual camping area available is 160 acres and holiday weekends bring any where from 1500-5000 people. The elevation for Sand Mountain is 4100 feet, so prepare to re-jet. With a 600 foot face, how could you deny your banshee, or other hill-shooter, the bragging rights around camp? For more information on Sand Mountain, including use fees and permit requirements, check out the Nevada BLM page.

This place is impressive!! Long, incredibly long, and steep dunes to climb. Not Oldsmobile Hill (Glamis) steep... steeper. Much Steeper. The razorback ridge is quite a sight up close. The downhill, near free-fall experience is a rush. Plus great faces with downhill slopes that make for some awesome jumps. The lower area is great for riders of all levels and it's well worth the trip. It took us about 6 hours from Las Vegas, coming up Highway 95. Scroll down to see some of our photo's from Sand Mountain.

Feel free to come over and say "HI" if you should see us out there.

Our Last Visit - May 2, 2009

What was supposed to be a weekend of racing, turned into a mini vacation instead. For a few months now, our 4 year old daughter has been telling us "I want to ride all by myself". Apparently mom & dad must be cramping her style at the track with the other kids riding solo, but we just didn't feel ready to let her go yet. After deciding to skip our race and give her the chance she's been waiting for, we made a detour in central Nevada and headed out to Sand Mountain. We figured if she's going to learn to ride solo, what better (and slower) place, than in the sand. It was cloudy when we arrived, and stayed that way throughout the day, but made for some nice temperatures. This was only our second time here, but it was much busier than the last time and the host were very friendly. We also noticed various improvements to the area such as a concrete restroom, marked dune access roads, and more hard-packed parking areas. Nobody likes to get their hauler stuck in the sand. After gearing up we gave Noelani a few brief instructions and set out for a few test laps around the camping area/pits. She did great following dad while mom rode behind her taking as many pix as possible. Then mom and dad took turns out in the dunes snapping far away photo's of each other. We all had a great time, the good Lord kept us all safe, and the first thing Noelani said after we took our first break was "I wanna race".

Our First Visit - September 5, 2007

We made our 1st trip to Sand Mountain over Labor Day weekend, on our return trip from the Oregon dunes. Our 2 year old daughter had so much fun exploring, until she fell asleep. Below are a few of our photo's.