Lamoille Canyon & Ruby Valley

On the way to beautiful Lamoille Canyon we stopped at the Little Church at the Crossroads which, to us, looked like the quintessential American church complete with spire and white picket fence.

Shaped by ancient glaciers the scenery in Lamoille Canyon is lovely and as we followed the road higher into the canyon, in places waterfalls and streams full of snowmelt were rushing down the mountainside.

Tyre tracks continued through the snow, but as we had no idea how deep the snow was going to be further on we decided to turn around.

Leaving Lamoille Canyon we followed another road that took us through Harrison Pass and over the mountains at a much lower level.   The paved road turned to graded dirt as we climbed and from the top of the pass we had beautiful views over the Ruby Valley.

One of the dirt roads at the top of Harrison Pass heading deeper into the snow covered Ruby Mountains.

Our first view of the beautiful Ruby Valley from the top of Harrison Pass.

At the bottom of the pass we followed the dirt road towards the Ruby Valley National Wildlife Refuge.   We drove along a dyke out into the lake, that was just wide enough for the truck, but as we got further along we began to wonder if there would be somewhere wide enough for us to turn around at the end.   Not long after that we came to a slightly wider section, so we turned around while we could.   I’m sure we probably would’ve been fine, but really didn’t want to have to try and reverse back along the dyke.

Ruby Marsh is a beautiful place with expansive views across open water and marshland to the mountains beyond.  

The Bressman Cabin was built in 1880 by Jacob Bressman from Pennsylvania, his gravesite is located near the cabin.  

The road also follows part of one of the supposed ‘short cuts’ on the California Trail (this one actually added a couple of hundred miles to the journey) and much further along is the site of the Pony Express Station that now stands outside the museum in Elko and the remains of a Fort.   Unfortunately, it was a good 40 miles one way to reach them, sadly too far for us that particular day.

After visiting the refuge we retraced our steps and then followed the dirt road all the way through the valley and back to I80.   Believe me that is one long dirt road.

We drove past roads and trails heading into the mountains, past ranches and cowboys and at one point we hit rush hour as a couple of cows and their cows ambled across the road in front of us.

A little further along a cattle dog was snoozing in the sunshine in the middle of the road and as we stopped it just lifted its head and looked at us as if to say ‘you want me to move?’ before ambling off to the side of the road.

 This jeep/ATV trail takes you to Overland Lake high up in the snow covered Ruby Mountains,   we didn’t drive up there as it looked to be a much rougher road than we’re comfortable driving.

Have fun, we are!