Cathedral Gorge State Park

Nevada State Park, One Of The State'S Four Original State Parks (1935); Eroded Bentonite Clay Spires And Slot Canyons · Panaca, Nevada

Cathedral Gorge State Park protects a small valley on US 93 in eastern Nevada where soft layers of bentonite clay, silt and volcanic ash have eroded into a maze of pale spires, fluted walls and narrow slot passages that look like the buttresses of a Gothic cathedral - hence the name. The layers were laid down in an ancient lake that filled the valley millions of years ago after volcanic eruptions in the region, and when the lake drained, rain and runoff began carving the soft sediment into the forms seen today. The park is one of Nevada's original four state parks of 1935, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built its stone water tower, picnic shelters and trails in the 1930s. Visitors walk into the Moon Caves and Canyon Caves - tight, shaded clefts between the clay walls - climb to Miller Point for the view down over the spires, and camp in a small, well-kept campground near the entrance. It is compact, remote and quiet, about 2.5 to 3 hours north of Las Vegas, and it pairs naturally with the old mining town of Pioche and the other small state parks around it.

111 Cathedral Gorge State Park Road, Panaca, Nevada, 89042, United States

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the park is open year round, with day use from roughly sunrise to sunset and the campground open all year; the visitor centre at the entrance keeps shorter daytime hours, commonly around 9 am to 4:30 pm, and may close on some days or holidays in the quiet season. The traps that ruin a day are arriving at midday in July to heat and flat light on a shadeless valley floor, walking into the slots after a storm when the clay is slick and unstable, reaching the park on a spring Friday night with no campsite booked, and assuming there is food or fuel on hand when the nearest small-town stores may already be closed.

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