While in Lake Tahoe we decided to take a motorcycle ride on the Kingsbury Route to Reno. We left early in the morning Lake Tahoe to Reno is less than a 2-hour road trip, but there is so much to see in those miles.
A fun road trip from Lake Tahoe is to take the curvy Kingsbury route to Reno, Nevada. We took State route 50 to 207 Kingsbury. This windy road takes you through the mountains.
Genoa to Reno is only a one-hour road trip, but there is so much to see in those 47 miles.
At the end of the road turn left on Route 206 towards the town of Genoa.
Spots to Stop at Along the Way
- Genoa’s Bar & Saloon
- Carson City
- Virginia City
- Reno
This small town is home to Nevada’s first bar, Genoa Bar and Saloon. It looked like a cool spot to stop and have a drink. It was our first stop on our road trip and a little too early for us to have a drink so we stopped just to take some photos.
Carson City
Continuing on to Carson City we turned left onto 395. Carson City sort of reminded me of Prescott, Arizona in the sense the downtown had a home town feel. The Nevada State Capitol was built in the late 1800’s and is an anchor in the downtown area.
Virginia City
As with many of our motorcycle rides we tend to stumble across a city on our way and then Virginia City is where we were side tracked. We found this town so interesting we spent the majority of our time at this stop.
In 1859 silver ore was discovered in this dusty desert town. Millions of dollars in gold and silver attracted thousands of people. At it’s peak, Virginia City was home to 25,000 residents.
Virginia City & Mark Twain
This town has interesting history to explore. Mark Twain spent the first 30 years of his life east of the Mississippi River. In 1861, Orion Clemens worked for the territorial governor of Nevada and his brother Samuel followed him to Nevada.
Samuel didn’t make any money from prospecting, so he took a job at Virginia City’s newspaper as a reporter. He also took on a pen name, Mark Twain.
Ghost Tour in Virginia City
According to ghost hunters most of Virginia City is haunted. The oldest saloon in Virginia City, Washoe Club, is believed to be haunted. I really love ghost tours, so we visited the Washoe Club and Museum to learn about Virginia City’s haunted past. We were lucky to have the same tour guide that was on the Travel Channel show, Ghost Adventures.
The Washoe Club is home to Virginia City’s oldest saloon, but it was also a private club where the elite hung out. It was dubbed the “Millionaire’s Club.” Climb up the spiral staircase to where the millionaires of Virginia City would gather to play games and gamble.
4th Ward School in Virginia City
Built in 1876, the 4th Ward School educated up to 1,000 students at a time. This
Piper Opera House
Reno
It started raining when we rolled into Reno. By raining, I mean it was pouring.
It isn’t particularly fun to be on a motorcycle during a downpour. We stumbled across the Reno Auto Museum and decided to spend a couple hours there.
Reno Auto Museum
It stopped raining by the time we had completed our self-guided tour of the museum. Our plan was to explore more of Reno, however it started started hailing and then we spent the rest of our time at a gas station in Reno waiting for the hail to stop.
We made it back to Lake Tahoe around 7:30 pm just as the sun was setting.
