Nevada's newest state park is a work in progress. Walker River State Recreation area is nearly 13,000 acres along the East Walker River near Yerington. It opened last September with a campground and some trails, and there have been some major additions in the last year.
"We've added a lot more trails and another full-hookup campground with power and water," said Park Supervisor Randy Denter. "So now here at the old Pitchfork Ranch, there are a lot of hiking trails, 4-wheeling rails and equestrian trails. There's camping, fishing, and it's a great spot to make your base camp if you're going hunting in the area."
The State of Nevada acquired the property from the Walker Basin Conservancy. Before that, it was private ranch-land.
"We're the original purchasers of these ranches and we partnered with State Parks to have stewardship over the property, open it up to the public, in the process we have a lot of work we do beside them, restoring wildlife habitat," said Steve Tomac, Senior Advisor with the Walker Basin Conservancy. "We try to strike a balance between getting water to Walker Lake and protecting agriculture in these communities. We have a large staff out here that works on restoring retired farmlands into native habitat, so that includes planting native vegetation and weed control, and that requires a lot of effort in the desert."
The historic ranch home at Pitchfork has been turned into a Visitor Center.
"We're seeing land that was private for more than a hundred years so these ranches link together," said Bethany Drysdale of Travel Nevada. There's just so much to see and do and we're so lucky to be this first generation to be able to see it again."
The plan is to add eight cabins to the park by Winter.
"Those will be for rent, you can come and stay in them year-round," Denter said. "They will have heat, running water, showers; they should be pretty comfortable."
The park has several events planned for its one-year anniversary in September.
"Nevada has so many hidden rural gems and we're so lucky to have this new one online," Drysdale said. It just adds to what Northern Nevadans can do here during any season. Right now, Nevada has the lowest in state visitation of any state in the country. People are going elsewhere and we want people to explore their own state and see what's in their own backyard."
More information: http://parks.nv.gov/parks/walker-river
https://www.facebook.com/WalkerRiverSRA/
