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One ride idea that I have…
Route start point – meet at the livestock gate at the end of Dayton Valley Road in Dayton and ride the Wild Horse Canyon route east to Highway 95A, then continue north to Fort Churchill. Distance is estimated at 12 miles to Highway 95A and another estimated 5 miles to Ft. Churchill. I have only ridden the first 1/4 of the Wild Horse Canyon route. I would estimate it to have a DDMC ride ranking of B+ due to some moderately steep, loose, rutted and rocky two-track. This route can be tracked using onX (my off-road navigation).
Rest stop point – Fort Churchill State Historic Park. The Fort section of the park is 100% exposed to sun and can be freakin’ hot during warm weather months, but cooler temps can be found in the park’s picnic area under heavy tree shading along the Carson River. Fort Churchill has an interesting but brief history. The Fort’s ruins cover a large area that has walking trails throughout.
Continue on the route – ride west on Fort Churchill Road (aka Pony Express Route) along the Carson River back to Dayton, where it ends at Highway 50. Distance is estimated at 15 miles. I have driven this route in my Jeep. It is a flat two lane dirt road that has a fair amount of tree shading along the Carson River. It can have wash boarded sections. I would estimate it to have a DDMC ride ranking of C-. This route can be tracked using onX.
Estimated time – maybe four hours in total…two hours from the start point to Ft. Churchill, one hour stop over at Ft. Churchill, and one hour return along Ft. Churchill Road.
Best time of year – maybe early Summer while temps are cooler and any snow has melted to avoid mud, or late Summer or Fall when the weather is a bit cooler and dry (no precipitation).
Other areas of interest nearby / along this route – Lohontan Reservoir is to the north of Fort Churchill, Buckland Station is on Highway 95A just south of Ft. Churchill, and Simpson Road (aka Pony Express Trail) heads east from Highway 95A just south of Buckland Station.
Any interest?
Dirt: 2022 Kawasaki KLX300R
Dual: 2025 Suzuki DR650Dave G, there are a couple of Carson City area dual sport rides that could be good “get acquainted rides”. Both have to-die-for views along the routes as the elevation climbs, can be done on a round-trip basis or stitched together to another route for an extended ride, and are likely DDMC raid ranking B+ (at least for the sections that I have ridden).
1. Ash Canyon – the route starts at the Ash Canyon trailhead at the edge of a residential neighborhood and climbs the mountainsides up to Hobart Lake. The trail is a somewhat maintained two-track. It is in decent shape (at least when I rode it), has some uphill sections that are long and reasonably steep with loose dirt (but I wouldn’t call those sections true hill climbs), and does have some mild exposure along the route. The distance to Hobart Lake is about 10 +/- miles. Hobart Lake is accessible by foot-trail from a nearby parking area. DDMC ride ranking B+, IMO.
From Hobart Lake you can either do a return trip back down or (I am told it can be done but haven’t done it) ride trails that connect to Mt. Rose Highway (unable to DDMC ride rank it since I haven’t ridden that part).
2. Kings Canyon – the route starts at a small staging area at the edge of a residential area (has trailer parking, permanent restroom and trail signage) and climbs the mountainsides up to end at Highway 50 just south of Spooner Lake. The trail is two-track, back-in-the day it was THE travel route to / from Lake Tahoe and was developed for Ford Model Ts to navigate. Although no longer navigable by Model T or any other car, it remains in decent shape for off-road vehicles but does have some sketchy features due to erosion.
One such “feature” (when I rode the route in summer of 2024) is a 10 to 12 foot long section of trail that is almost completely washed out down a steep hillside, but there is an off-camber ledge (about two feet wide) that you have to cross to continue on the trail. Yay! Otherwise, the trail has a fair amount of loose dirt, rocks and some mild exposure along the route. The distance to the Highway 50 turnout is about 14 +/- miles. DDMC ride ranking B+, IMO (except for the 10 to 12 foot long ledge, which does rate as “Pucker Factor”).
From Highway 50 you can either do a return trip back down the trail or take a two mile long road ride to continue to the Genoa Peak trail ride, which is a two-track route about 10 miles long that starts by the Forest Service Fire Station and ends at Genoa Peak at about 9,100+ ft. elevation. From there, on a clear day, you can look down to Lake Tahoe to the west and Carson City and surrounding areas to the east. This trail goes through fairly dense forest with a lot of exposed tree roots, a short section that might qualify as a rock garden, and a couple of short hill climbs that have loose dirt and rocks. This section is a DDMC ride ranking of B+, IMO.
To return, you have to ride the 10 +/- miles back out to Highway 50. Depending on where you want to go from there, you can either continue on Highway 50 toward Incline Village or toward Carson City, or you can hop back on the Kings Canyon trail heading downhill to extend your trail ride.
By the way, my avatar photo was taken at Genoa Peak as I crested the hilltop just west of the radio tower.
Dirt: 2022 Kawasaki KLX300R
Dual: 2025 Suzuki DR650
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