Lamoille Canyon and the Ruby Mountains

Glacier Carved Canyon In The Ruby Mountains, Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest; Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway And The Ruby Mountains Wilderness · Lamoille, Nevada

Lamoille Canyon is the largest glacier-carved valley in the Ruby Mountains, a range of granite and metamorphic peaks rising to over 11,000 feet just south-east of Elko in north-east Nevada, and it is the reason the Rubies are often called the Alps of Nevada. A paved scenic byway of about 12 miles climbs from the canyon mouth near the ranching village of Lamoille to Roads End at around 8,800 feet, passing through a classic U-shaped trough with sheer walls, hanging valleys, avalanche chutes, aspen groves, beaver ponds and, in early summer, waterfalls pouring off the rim. From Roads End trails climb to alpine lakes - Island, Lamoille, Dollar and Liberty lakes - and the Ruby Crest Trail runs south for more than 30 miles along the spine of the range. The canyon sits in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, with the Ruby Mountains Wilderness above it. It surprises visitors who picture Nevada as desert. The catch is the season: snow closes the upper road for much of the year, and the high trails hold snow well into June.

Lamoille Canyon Road (Forest Road 660), Lamoille, Nevada, 89828, United States

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the canyon is open to visitors at all hours, with no gate times on open sections, but the upper Lamoille Canyon Road is closed by snow and avalanche danger for much of the year, commonly from roughly November into May or June, with only the lower miles open; dates change every year, and Thomas Canyon campground usually runs roughly late May or June to September. The traps that ruin a day are driving out from Elko in spring to find the road gated low in the canyon, starting for Liberty Pass after lunch, arriving on a summer Friday evening without a campsite reservation, and planning a late-October visit after the first big storm has closed the road for the season.

Lamoille Canyon and the Ruby Mountains on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos