Pony Express Territory
Scattered along US Highway 50 are the ruins of old Pony Express Stations, as well as the mining towns of Austin and Eureka. The road also passes through the town of Fallon and the lush Lahontan Valley – the site of the first reclamation project in the USA. The Forty-Mile Desert has been transformed into productive ranchlands. Also on US Highway 50 is the old mining town of Austin, founded by a former Pony Express rider. Eureka was a boomtown of the 1870s lead and silver mining period, and is well preserved to this day. Across nine mountain ranges lies Ely, gateway to one of the country’s least-crowded National Parks, Great Basin National Park. Attractions here include the spectacular rock formations of the Lehman Caves; the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum, where visitors can learn of the mining and transport heritage of the region; the Eureka Sentinel Museum, located in the home of the town’s longest-running newspaper, with displays of the lead and silver mining era; Grimes Point Archaeological Site, with a trail through boulders covered with petroglyphs; and the Hidden Cave, an ancient storage site for local Native Americans, located near Fallon.
The following is a selection of special events occurring in Nevada’s Pony Express Territory in 2005:
May 12-15 Nevada Open Road Challenge (car rally and show), Ely. May 13-15 Spring Wings Festival, Fallon. Jul 4-9 Silver State International Rodeo, Fallon. Jul 15-17 Nevada Indian Days All-Indian Rodeo and Pow Wow (includes rodeo, parade, pow-wow, Native American hand games, arts and crafts), Fallon. Aug Eureka County Fair; White Pine County Fair, Ely; White Pine County Horse Races, Ely; Nevada Motorcross Championships, Fallon. Sep 2-5 Heart of Gold Cantaloupe Festival, Fallon. Sep 24-25 Fallon Senior Pro Rodeo. Oct 6-8 Harvest Days and Nevada State Picnic, Fallon. Oct 6-9 Eighth Annual Stockhorse Spectacular, Fallon. Oct 8 Fourth Annual Mayor’s Cup Golf Tournament, Fallon. Oct WNCC Collegiate Rodeo, Fallon; Sixth Annual Reining Futurities, Fallon. Dec 2 Christmas Tree Lighting, Fallon. Dec 3 Hometown Christmas (craft and food vendors), Fallon. Dec 31 New Year’s Eve Fireworks, Fallon.
The regional airport is Yelland Field Airport in Ely, which has good connections to destinations throughout the USA.
The summer weather is hot, reaching temperatures of 92F (33C) in Fallon. In winter, temperatures drop below 20F (-7C).
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