ACTIVE & ADVENTURE NEVADA DESTINATIONS
I
t’s a scorching hot day in Virginia City, Nevada, and the Bucket of Blood saloon is beginning to fill up. Barmen swiftly pour drinks for thirsty customers waiting for the dancing to start, and the pianist is already playing some chords, but there’s no time to wait. I dash past the offices of
the Territorial Enterprise – the newspaper that first employed Huckleberry Finn creator Mark Twain – and cross the road next to a gun-toting cowboy who will shortly be shot in a duel. In fact, so far he’s been shot every hour, on the hour, and that looks set to continue all afternoon. Not surprisingly the traffic
stops as he crosses the road, spurs jangling and his Winchester rifle gleaming in the sun.
Virginia City, just a few miles south of Reno, is pure Nevada: a real-life town with real inhabitants, but also a living historical record of what Nevada was like in the days of the gold rush and the wild west. My visit coincided with the
Taste of the Comstock festival, where visitors can sample everything from cocktails and local beers to home-made fudge, cookies and Johnnycakes (a pancake-like Native American dish that was eaten by soldiers in the Civil war). Wandering into traditional saloons complete with swing doors and long, mirrored bars stacked with every conceivable spirit is just like going back in time – and to a wilder time, if the presence of legendary artefacts
I cross the road next to a spurs-jangling, gun-toting cowboy who will shortly be shot in a duel
such as the ‘suicide table’ that bankrupted several gamblers is anything to go by. Virginia City was once home to
more millionaires than anywhere else in the world (which, at the turn of the last century, was a pretty big deal). However, Nevada isn’t just about historic America, it also boasts everything from prehistoric underground
cave systems to the ultra-modern Tesla electric car factory just outside Reno. As the seventh-largest state in the US, Nevada isn’t short on space, so it’s frustrating that a vast proportion of visitors to the Silver State never get further than the Las Vegas Strip. While it’s certainly a big draw (see box, page 53), there is more to Nevada than Sin City. With more ghost towns than
actual towns, thriving Native American tribes and huge mineral reserves that triggered a silver rush in the 1860s, Nevada is part of America’s rich history, but its appeal is bang up to date. While cars and trucks thunder
past on the very modern freeways, a still-visible white letter on the hills outside each
16 August 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 49
TOP TIP Get ideas for what
to do, where to go and how to plan a trip at
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