Badwater

January 31st, 2026

A highlight this winter has been discovering this trailhead, which is pretty much across the street from an overland trail that I had taken the dogs with Sosa several times, enjoying the sloping canyons and miles of open walking terrain that's hidden behind the small industrial "suburb" of Lockwood.

Unlike the overlanding area, this trail has easy access to water, following the Long Valley Creek what seems like 10+ miles. Sosa and I have only seen the first mile or so with each dog walk, but even that is already a great experience.

The dogs greatly appreciated

I was told the wildland firefighters based out of Doyle, California had a training hike around Red Rock. I'm not sure if I arrived at the right spot, just a half mile off the 395 exit. It seemed more like a 4-wheeler or boondock haven rather than a definitive hiking spot.

You can drive almost to the bottom of the rocks, though it's a bit bumpy, and I thought I needed the walk. I still couldn't find an established trail, but followed ruts carved out by years of

On the everlasting quest to find convenient places to take the dogs out for an open space run with few to no other people around, I was first intending to check out The Narrows, an off-roading trail that extends from Fernley up to Pyramid Lake. The whole trail wasn't the goal, but just some part I could get to and have the dogs run free.

Unfortunately, one old entrance to the trail system was cemented off at the end of a highway exit, and the other seemed to have a cop blocking the entrance, so I was not wanting to