Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park - Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

If you're looking for a way to get away from the craziness of life right now and experience something new, you can't get much farther away than this! This state park is jam packed with really interesting things to see and do, as long as you're willing to drive out of your way to get there. 

This state park is about 150 miles away from Carson City, so you'll want to dedicate some time to really make the most of the trip. The three hour drive is not without it's own points of interest along the way though! I'll share some of the stops we made and whether we felt it was worth it or not. 

First: Grimes Point Archaeological Area - Located outside Fallon, this one is totally worth getting out of the car to check out. Plus, there are toilets here in case you need them. ;) A hike here would be a great way to stretch your legs before pushing on. 

Sand Mountain Recreation Area - This *might* be worth the time for a stop if you have OHV's with you.This is a fee-only site and you have to pay for a full week at a time. There is only primitive camping here with no water available, so bring your own. The history and mythology surrounding this site is fascinating though! We pulled in long enough to read some of the signs talking about the area. It's a shame there isn't really an opportunity for non-OHV users to enjoy the area more. 

Fairview Peak Earthquake Fault - Unless you are a die-hard geology enthusiast, you probably won't want to stop here. A couple miles down a painfully rough dirt track brings you to a spot where you can view a fault line. It's barely visible to the untrained eye, and wasn't worth the bumpy ride. Someone before us had knocked a hole in their oil pan, leaving a trail of oil drops down the road and their dead vehicle was still parked there waiting for someone to figure out how to get it out of there. High clearance vehicles only! 

Once you make it to the state park, you find a lot of really interesting things to do and see. We camped two nights here to give ourselves plenty of time to see everything and we still didn't see it all. To make it worth the drive, I highly recommend staying at least one night. 

The campground here was well maintained, with bathrooms and drinking water available. Each site also has a small pergola to provide a small amount of shade over the table, BBQ grill, and fire pit. 

Things to do at Berlin-Ichthyosaur:

-Hike from the campground to the Fossil House (you can drive there if you don't want to hike)

    This is a moderately easy trail, about 1/2 a mile long. There are some elevation changes, and places where the trail is quite rocky. Our kids all made the hike just fine. The trail head is located in the campground. 

-Visit the Fossil House

    This large structure shelters the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures called Ichthyosaurs. The building is only open during specific tour times, but you can read about the fossils and see them through the windows at the ends of the building. 

Tours are not free, but an explanation of the fees was a little hard to locate so we didn't realize that until after we'd made the hike to the fossil house (without any money on us, because we didn't know we'd need it). Luckily the ranger was kind enough to let us go inside and wander around on our own for a few minutes before the tour started. The kids loved this hands-on fossil bin! 

-Play in the creek by the day-use area in Union Canyon

-Walk the Union Canyon Interpretive Trail (we didn't do this one)

-Explore the Berlin ghost town via the self-guided Berlin Townsite Trail. This trail is just short of a mile long and is pretty easy. We found ourselves wishing for more information about many of the buildings in the town site, but it was still really interesting. 

-Climb the hill to the mine entrance (you cannot go inside, but it's still neat to see)

-Hike the trail from the townsite to the cemetery. 1/3 of a mile long trail.  

So, if you're interested in history, geology, or paleontology this park is for you! Throw your camping gear in the car and go enjoy an adventure! 

Essential Details:

Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park

State route 844, Austin, NV 89310

Website