Visiting Northern Nevada

Get cultural this summer in northern Nevada. Silver State cities like Reno, Elko, and Carson City host art museums, science centers, and historic sites. The second largest city in Nevada, Reno – known as the Biggest Little City in the World – features some amazing sights, including The National Automobile Museum, the Fleischmann Planetarium & Science Center's interactive exhibits . Visitors's to the state capital, Carson City, learn about Nevada itself at the Nevada State Museum. Carson Valley and Topaz Lake are paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, and Elko plays host to some great festivals - northern Nevada ideal for your summer travels in Nevada.

Carson Valley kicks off spring late April with Genoa's Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. Gardnerville, 8-miles south of Genoa, hosts Carson Valley Days, a sure sign summer is here in the Carson Valley. The 2012 festival is June 6th through 10th at Lampe Park in Gardnerville. This family friendly event has been a Carson Valley and Gardnerville tradition for over 100 years; enjoy the hot air baloon launch, music, games and arts and crafts market. Join the fun at the Carson Valley Walk, Jog, Run on Saturday followed by the Carson Valley Days Parade. Kick off your summer in Gardnerville at 2012 Carson Valley Days.

Don’t miss the museums of Reno. Open Wednesday through Sunday, downtown Reno’s Nevada Museum of Art is free to children 5-years-old and under, and offers free parking to boot. Catch exhibits like “Jacob Hashimoto: Here in Sleep, a World, Muted to a Whisper” through July 1, or Tim Hawkinson’s Totem on display outside of the museum, all the way through October. At the Nevada Museum of Art, enjoy a self-guided tour of the exhibits – or wrangle up one of the museum’s trained docents to show you around – and even grab lunch at the onsite Café Musée.

Less than a mile from the Nevada Museum of Art – and just 10 minutes from the Best Western hotel in Reno, the National Automobile Museum is a treasure of Reno’s many attractions, and you’ll soon know why. Open daily, and also free to children 5-years-old and under, the National Automobile Museum is home to exhibits like Celebrity Automobiles – featuring the cars of Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Elvis – and cars from movies like Titanic and Rebel Without a Cause. Check out the gold-plated DeLorean DMC-12s, and get lost in a sea of Ferrari, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce during your summer stay in Reno.

Just 30 miles south of Reno past Washoe Lake, Carson City is another fun city set in northern Nevada. Visitors to the Silver State capital can explore the Nevada State Museum. Just north of the Nevada State Capitol, the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday and features the former Carson City Mint and natural history displays like the Nevada's Changing Earth exhibit and America's largest exhibited Columbian mammoth. Catch the Exquisite Miniatures exhibit starting in mid-May, and French Travel Posters from the Merci Train Collection, on display though mid August.

Set in northeast Nevada, Elko is a festive city found just north of Ruby Valley. Try your hand at the many nearby casinos, or check out the 2012 National Basque Festival, happening July 6th through the 8th. For those motorcycle enthusiasts, don’t miss the 2012 Elko Motorcycle Jamboree – known as the Rumble in the Rubies – in mid June in Elko’s Old Town corridor. Shop, eat, and ride this summer in northern Nevada.

Northern Nevada Hotel Map