Attractions Nearby Carson City, Day Trips and Excursions

(Carson City, Nevada - NV, USA)

There are many quality attractions outside of Carson City, with the most obvious being spread around Lake Tahoe and to the west in general. State parks, lakeside towns, small villages and casino cities all make for popular excursions.

If you head south along the Carson Pass Highway (US-88), you will find a number of enticing destinations, which are ideal for day trips. These include Indian Hills and Gardnerville, which is the county seat of Minden and where you will find the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Further south is the historic Nevada town of Genoa, which lies within the Carson River Valley and comes with its own set of attractions, including the Genoa Courthouse Museum and the Candy Dance Festival, which takes place each September. Close by, you may like to take time out and relax at the natural hot springs of David Walley's Resort.

General Information

Those staying in Carson City and looking for something a bit more exciting and glitzy should take a drive in a northerly direction, along Interstate I-580, where both Reno and Sparks can be reached in approximately 45 minutes. Reno is often described as a mini Las Vegas, due to its cluster of neon lights and large hotel casinos, but this is all on a much smaller scale and the comparisons really do end there.

Reno's population is in the region of 220,000 people and as well as its casinos, other attractions include numerous wedding chapels, the Wild Island Family Adventure Park and the Nevada Museum of Art. Almost a suburb of Reno, Sparks is much smaller in size, although still makes for a worthwhile day trip from Carson City, with its Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off each Labor Day weekend being a huge draw, along with John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort.

The Nevada Outback offers something completely different, being most easily reached by taking Highway US-50 eastwards. Overnight excursions are best if you are planning to travel past Sand Mountain and Fallon. Around an hour away and in this direction is the Fort Churchill State Historic Park, which comes with military ruins, a visitors center, self-guided hiking trails, scenic picnic spots and basic camping facilities.

When the winter months arrive in Carson City, the choice of nearby attractions takes on a whole new character, particularly when snow is in the air. At less than an hour away and to the southwest, the Heavenly Mountain Resort at South Lake Tahoe is especially easy to reach, by simply following the Lincoln Highway US-50, and boasts some of the area's very best winter ski slopes and summer hiking trails.