Today I'm in Winnemucca.

This town is not only a history buff's dream, it's also an outdoor explorer's paradise.

Come on, let's check it out.

♪♪♪ I'm Connor Fields, and this is Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪ Winnemucca is located in Humboldt County.

The town was established in the mid-19th century and named after Chief Winnemucca of the Northern Paiute tribe.

Winnemucca thrived initially as a stop along the Central Pacific Railroad, which played a crucial role in its early development.

Today, Winnemucca retains much of its historic charm with several well-preserved buildings and landmarks that tell the story of its historic past.

The Humboldt Museum, for instance, features a variety of exhibits that tell the story of this area's history, with exhibits ranging from Native American artifacts to items from the Pioneer era.

And today, that's where I'm starting off.

I'm gonna meet Dana, who's the Executive Director of the Humboldt County Museum.

This museum is beautiful.

(Dana Toth) Well, thank you.

-I tell you, we have to start here.

When I was a kid, I loved dinosaurs.

They were my favorite.

I had all sorts of models.

And when I think of Winnemucca, I don't think about dinosaurs.

-And you shouldn't.

-Can you tell me about this?

-Yeah, absolutely.

So these species you're seeing here, these fossil remnants, are of giant swimming reptiles of the "ancient seas" is what we call it.

These are sometimes carnivorous, sometimes cannibalistic, but sometimes they're huge too.

These guys were swimming around during the time of the dinosaurs walking around in Utah.

So this guy right here is one of our newest finds that the paleontologists have discovered out in the Augustus range, more or less.

But really they're looking at Triassic rocks.

So this is two-scale skull of a new species whose name I have trouble pronouncing, but we call him Jim II, and that's the layman's terms, I guess.

He does have a scientific Latin name that is very long.

-And so how long was he when he was swimming around?

-Well, his entire length-- so if you look at the skull there, it's about 6 foot, little over 6 foot in length.

If you add the body onto it, you're looking at a total of about 56 feet in length from tip to tail.

-This is crazy to think about how different Nevada looked back then.

-Absolutely.

-Over there I see some Basque culture.

I do love some Basque food.

Can we go check that out?

-Absolutely.

Let's go.

This is one of our newest exhibits in the museum, and it was put together with the help of our Winnemucca Basque Club.

So the Winnemucca Hotel, though, is gone now today, but this exhibit is built with the materials, including the bricks, the wood, and even that cabinet behind you there is built of the materials from the old Winnemucca Hotel.

-This museum has a little bit of everything.

The more Dana walked me around, the more she taught me.

I learned all sorts of things, from the history of Chief Winnemucca and the Indigenous people to the local cultures, the mining, and the history of the railroad.

-Winnemucca, it sits on, actually, where there's two lines that come across the transcontinental railroads.

The first one to arrive was the Central Pacific Railroad.

It reached Winnemucca in 1868, wasn't completed until 1869 at Promontory Point in Utah.

But the second line came through Winnemucca in 1909, and that's the Western Pacific line that's closest to us here.

And that's the line that we had the Big Boy ride on today.

-The Big Boy, what is the Big Boy?

-The Big Boy is a big engine, built in 1941.

It took off out of Winnemucca after staying the night last night here in town.

And it's making its journey across, all the way to Sacramento right now.

-What do we have here?

-This is the Humboldt Soda Works exhibit.

-And that, obviously, was here in Humboldt County.

Was that here in Winnemucca?

-Absolutely.

So this was on Railroad Street, right across from the first depot built here in town.

-It was originally called the Humboldt or the Depot House.

And in the back of it, they created a Humboldt Soda Works.

There's a good photo here where you could see the back side of the structure, and then one has the interior showing basically what we've recreated.

So if you look there, we have Mr. L.C.

Leger.

He's the man on the far left, and he's holding his hand on the agitation tank there.

-Were they making these sodas that we still have today, or was it stuff from back then?

-Well, we do have the original syrup flavor book, so it has all the ingredients of what they used to make their own sodas.

Later on though, the Humboldt Soda Works did take on the 7 Up company, and they were making their own sodas, bottling their own sodas.

So we do have here, in this little case, some of them that say Winnemucca, Nevada.

-Oh, wow.

-7 Up.

-Look how old school.

-Isn't that neat?

-That's fun.

I'll tell you what this reminds me of.

-What's that?

-Do you know those arcade games where it's like a Western thing, and you shoot it?

-A shooting gallery.

-Yeah, that's what this totally reminds me of.

-That's pretty funny.

I hadn't looked at it like that, but I see it.

Those bottles are worth a lot more than plinking bottles.

-Oh, totally.

I'm sure.

-So one of the oldest bottles up here is from 1877, and it has G.A.K.

on it.

And it stands for Gustav A. Krinkle, and he's the man who actually started the Depot House Saloon.

And that was kind of the knee jerk thing again, like we just talked about, with the railroad commerce coming in.

These businesses popping up happened because the railroad was built.

That would not exist.

This would not exist had the railroad not come in.

-It's that butterfly effect.

-Absolutely.

-Railroad leads to this, leads to finding fossils of dinosaurs.

-Because people are plinking around, right?

-Is there anything on the other side?

-Absolutely.

-The more Dana walked me around, the more she taught me.

One of the bigger displays at the museum is the transportation exhibit.

I was excited to see this one.

Oh, boy!

Imagine driving around in this thing.

-Right.

-Tell me about this car.

-This is actually a truck.

-A truck?

-This is a truck.

-Where's the truck bed?

-Well, the back end has plenty of cargo space.

Put your trunk back there, if you will.

The interesting thing about this automobile, though, is the tank you sit on.

It's a fuel tank there.

-That doesn't seem safe.

-I wouldn't imagine, probably not.

-I'm not sure that would pass modern day inspections.

-Probably not.

There are folks that have come through that knew more about mechanics than I do, and they say, Oh, it wouldn't take much to get that running.

-Imagine if you could show the person who owned this what trucks look like today.

-I would love to see their face.

-And this one?

-This is our Ye Merry Oldsmobile.

It's a 1902.

It was delivered to a merchant in Lovelock by train, of course, again.

And it was quite the spectacle, like the whole town came to see this new contraption show up, but they could not start it.

-Well, look at the steering wheel.

-It's not a wheel.

It's a stick, a joystick.

But they got this running after contacting Oldsmobile company and saying, Hey, you got to do this, but take the spark plugs out and put them into the back.

So once that happened, it fired right up, and Northern Nevada had its first running automobile.

It's great we have a photo of actually driving it down the street in Lovelock with the old Safeway store behind it.

But this is definitely the first automobile in Northern Nevada, if not all of Nevada, to be brought to the state.

-History right here.

-Mm-hmm.

-I got a little bit more time.

Is there anything else I should see before I leave?

-I'd love to show you something that's not always on show.

It's upstairs.

We gotta go up there.

-Will I get a special "behind the scenes"?

-Yes, you do.

Let's go.

♪♪♪ I want to show you something that is kind of mind boggling to me when you think about time and change and how much happens so rapidly within our own lifetimes.

So you may have heard of the Trinity Range.

Is that familiar to you?

-I've heard of it, but don't know much about it.

-So it's not far from Lovelock.

It's northeast of Lovelock, more or less.

It's interesting here.

So in 1907, we show a photo here of a town called Mazuma.

Here's another photo just a few years later, in 1912.

-What happened there?

-Gone.

Cloud bursts destroyed it.

So gullywasher, a storm comes by, a cloud parks up top of the mountain, and all that water lets loose down the ravines, and it comes upon the town, the wash, and it over banks the washes, takes out the buildings.

-Toast.

-Gone, right?

You also have these relics that are being found as well.

So this was at the Mazuma site.

-What's inside there?

-This is dried up olives, actually.

It was found in a dried up creek bed, resting on this side with the cork still in place.

The cork had been pushed in so they could actually figure out what the contents were.

But you'll notice this glass is purple because it had been sitting exposed to the elements for so many decades.

On the bottom, it's not purple.

This portion was sitting in the dry creek bed.

So this tangible piece of history probably sat on the store shelf in Mazuma, and it's just neat to see this physical tie to history that we can still look at today and go, man, that photo was real, you know?

-It makes you wonder what is gonna be arounded in 50 years or 100 years.

-History is not going to stop.

-Or what things we have today that somebody 50 or 100 years from now is gonna be showing somebody else, Look at this amazing PlayStation, or whatever it may be.

-What do you think they might be doing in the Trinity Range of all places in 50 years from now?

I mean, it's really a desolate place, but all these desolate locations have such great stories to tell if you really dig in and start looking around.

-I can't thank you enough for showing me around.

Anybody who's in Winnemucca or even in the surrounding area needs to come and see this.

Your passion shines through.

The exhibits are amazing.

I can't thank you enough.

-Thanks for coming in.

We're happy to have you.

-The Humboldt Museum is full of interesting exhibits for everyone who visits.

It's not only full of eye candy, it's full of legit history.

I can promise you'll not only enjoy yourself, you will learn about Nevada and its rich history.

And if you happen to see Dana, make sure you say hi.

Next, I decided it was time to stretch the legs and get some fresh air, so I headed out to check out a trail in Water Canyon.

The trail system in Water Canyon is almost 2,000 feet above Winnemucca.

It offers a variety of trails for hiking, biking, and off road vehicles, with scenic views of lush canyons and high desert landscape.

The area is known for its diverse wildlife, wildflowers, and unique geological formations, making it a popular spot for nature lovers.

The trails range in difficulty, providing options for both casual hikers and those more experienced adventurers looking for a challenge.

This trail was just what I needed.

Making my way through the beautiful aspen trees with the sound of the creek nearby, it was amazing.

♪♪♪ This area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Humboldt River Field Office.

I caught up with Susan Grande with BLM to learn more about the area.

Susan, thank you so much for meeting with me today.

How long have you lived in Winnemucca?

(Susan Grande) Four years.

-Anywhere else in Nevada?

-Five years in Ely.

-Ely and Winnemucca, I love that.

And what is your favorite thing about Winnemucca?

-I love the people.

They're very friendly.

They're, you know, super helpful.

I've never had a problem here.

-Well, I love to hear that and learn more about Winnemucca.

Can we sit down?

-Sure.

-Susan, we're not far from Winnemucca, but it feels like we're in a completely different place.

We have these beautiful aspen trees, this creek running through.

I love this place.

Tell me a little bit about Water Canyon.

-Well, Water Canyon is kind of in a secluded area with a lot of trees and recreation.

We have 10 campsites which have camping tables, fire pits for fires, we have three vault toilets, so you can come up and camp.

Because it's so popular, we only have a three-day limit, which, you know, people can camp here for three days.

It's on a first-come, first-served basis.

People can hike up here.

They can snowshoe in the winter.

We have a nine-hole disc golf course.

We're hoping to expand to 18 so that we can get tournaments and such in the area.

-Not a bad place for a tournament.

I must say it's gorgeous here.

Now, you did say something there.

You said snowshoeing.

So it snows up here in the winter; is that right?

-Yes, it does.

We get quite a bit of snow.

-And do people come up and camp in the winter?

-Yes, they do.

-Year round, people come to hang out?

-Correct.

It's just that some certain times of the year, the roads become very slick and icy.

So, you know, you need to have, you know, four-wheel drive or have, you know, snow tires to try to get up here.

-It's probably a good idea, as well, to check the weather before you get here, just so you can be aware if a storm is rolling in.

-Yes, yes.

-I did see-- I was driving in, I saw a word that I've never seen before.

What is a yurt?

-A yurt is a like, huge tent, which has a fireplace in the center of it and plenty of seating all around.

We have one that comes in every year, and it comes in from about October to April.

And people can use it at their free will.

We provide the wood for the fire.

Just make sure that you follow all the safety precautions, you know, of how to put out a fire, and make sure that it's done.

We have a book withinside the yurt where people can write stories, explain what they've done.

We've had people draw artwork, and it's just gorgeous.

-I bet that's the most popular campsite between those months.

Everybody's fighting for the yurt.

-It is.

We are looking into purchasing a second one.

-What kind of animals call this area home?

-Oh, you name it.

We have mountain lions.

We do have butterflies.

We have deer.

This is an area where there are cattle.

There are ranchers around, so sometimes you do have to dodge the cattle.

-We did see a whole bunch of those driving in today.

There was 20 or 30 off the side of the road.

-Yep.

And then we have horses.

Yeah, we have, we have a park ranger that is up here all the time.

He comes up at least twice a week, you know, and maintains the vault toilets and the garbage, you know, makes sure the garbage is picked up, fires are put out if someone has not done that.

-What things can people do to help preserve this land?

-Whatever you pack in, you pack out.

Please make sure you don't damage the trees.

Don't make dams in the river.

There's people who have made dams.

Make sure that, you know-- -Trying to channel their inner beaver.

-Yeah, I think so.

But you know, whatever you do, leave nature the way it is, and don't, you know, don't take things.

-I agree.

I think we love nature because it's untouched.

-Correct.

-But then, for whatever reason, some people want to come touch it and change it, and that completely ruins why we enjoy it.

-Right.

-This is gorgeous.

It's definitely a little unexpected.

When I was driving through Winnemucca, I did not expect to see these beautiful aspens.

Is there more area like this surrounding the city?

-Actually, we have other recreation areas that are not as treed as this area is.

We have the Sand Dunes.

The Sand Dunes is just a mass of sand that people can go dune buggying on, fat tire bike riding.

There are two vault toilets out there with a shade structure.

We have people who camp overnight in the parking lot.

And then we also have Bloody Shins, which is a bike trail.

And that is intermingled and multiple-use with some grazing allotments.

The trails are single-track trails.

And then there's, of course, trails made by the cows.

So we have-- well, if you want to go on to the other side of the Black Rock Field Office, we have the playa.

And that is where Burning Man takes place every year.

-Sounds like you have this wide variety of ecosystems in this small area.

-Correct.

-We're here, and it looks like this.

It's lush, it's green, there's water.

But then just down the road, there's these sand dunes.

Then over here, you've got some hiking trails, biking trails, and then the playa over there.

There's a whole bunch in this small area.

-And then we also have the Pine Forest.

-Where's the Pine Forest?

-Pine Forest is up by Knott Creek and Onion Reservoir, and there's great fishing up there.

-What kind of fish can people catch up there?

-Bass, trout.

-I'll have to bring my pole next time I come up.

I didn't know.

I didn't know there was any available fishing here.

I did bring my bike, so I'm definitely going to check out Bloody Shins Trail.

I'm a little concerned with the name, though.

It scares me a little bit.

-Bloody Shins came about because of the sagebrush and how the bike trails are single-laned and how your legs would pass by the sagebrush and could get cut.

-Okay.

That makes sense.

-So you would have bloody shins.

-That makes sense.

I heard the name, and it scared me.

You know, I'm a biker myself, and when you go ride a trail, you don't want a trail that says you're going to get bloody.

-No.

I understand.

-That makes perfect sense.

Susan, thank you so much for telling me a little bit about this area.

Water Canyon is beautiful, and I'm definitely going to check out some other areas around Winnemucca.

-Well, thank you.

Appreciate it.

-After talking with Susan, I decided, what the heck, I'm gonna give Bloody Shins a go.

She set me up with Kyle, a local rider.

Kyle, I am so excited to ride.

I've been riding my way all over Nevada, and today I'm gonna ride in Winnemucca.

Tell me a little about the Bloody Shins Trail system.

(Kyle Osborne) This is kind of a nice, easy ride.

There are some nice, speedy downhills with a few features here and there.

But overall, you can get a good, nice ride.

Not a lot of traffic on this trail during certain hours of the day.

So if you like to ride peacefully, you can definitely get it.

-I am excited to ride.

Show me the way.

-Absolutely.

Let's ride.

-After you.

The Bloody Shins Trail is a multi-use trail system stretching over 40 miles.

It's designed for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.

The terrain is a mix of desert landscapes, rocky outcroppings, and scenic views.

Known for its challenging yet rewarding routes, the trail's name originates from the rugged terrain that can scrape a rider's shins.

♪♪♪ This is definitely a great ride for beginners.

Whoever came up with the name, good for you.

You got me interested.

I will take great pride in telling people I survived the Bloody Shins Trail in Winnemucca.

That was fun.

-What a ride!

-Yeah, it was a good time.

All sorts of different features, and you're going back and forth.

It was a little dusty, you know?

I think after a rain, might be the best time to ride it.

-In the rain, yeah.

That would be-- or in the rain.

-In the rain, yeah.

That'd be fun, too, but that was a blast.

I appreciate you taking me on that ride.

-Yeah, you're very welcome.

-After riding the trail, I decided to do a quick walk about town and make my way over to the historic Martin Hotel where Basque food, culture, and traditions are alive and well.

I sat down with John, the former owner of The Martin Hotel, to learn more about the place.

John, we're here at The Martin Hotel.

Tell me a little bit about this place.

(John Arant) Well, it was built as, actually, as a bordello in 1878.

It had, at one time, 35 rooms.

Over time, that part of the business went away, and it became a boarding house for Basque shepherds.

It stayed that way through up until about 1970, when the rooms were taken out and it really became a functional restaurant.

-There's plenty of restaurants here in Winnemucca.

There's plenty of options.

Why do you think people should stop at The Martin?

-Well, a couple of reasons.

One, it's like being part of history.

The food, the environment, the way it's served.

It's served family-style at night.

So you may be sitting at a table with 10 people, but there'll be three families there.

So it's part of that experience.

That's, I would say that is why they come.

They want to talk to somebody else.

-The people that come through The Martin Hotel, are they mostly local?

Are they traveling through?

Tell me about the mix of your customers here.

-Okay.

I would say our mix is, in the summer, we are probably 80% travelers.

-That's high.

-It's high.

Oh, yeah.

And it's travelers, because the location of Winnemucca is equidistant from the Bay Area, from Boise, from Salt Lake, from Vegas.

This is their stopping place.

Most of them have been here many times before.

This is a highlight of their trip is to come and have dinner here at The Martin.

-Do you create new Basque dishes, or do you stay true to the original ones?

-One of the beauties of owning The Martin is that you do not have to create meals.

They're there.

We follow the Basque traditions.

We have a few outside of the tradition, but, for the most part, we serve the same thing that they were serving in 1950.

-What is your favorite part of The Martin?

-People.

-The people?

-The people, yeah.

The thing, honestly, that I miss the most is dinners, I was the hostess.

So I got to greet all of these people.

And it's wonderful because you, even after a year or two or three, you recognize your travelers, and they recognize you.

And it's fun.

That's the best part.

-I also understand there's a drink.

The Picon Punch is the traditional Basque drink.

-It is.

-What makes yours special?

-Well, the ingredients are grenadine, Torani Amer, a little bit of soda, your float, brandy.

But here we stir it 13 times.

-Why 13?

-One of our customers said it was a good idea.

It's just that simple.

But you do stir a Picon because the aroma is part of the drink.

So basically, it chases the aroma out of the drink, and that becomes part of the experience.

-If you had to describe The Martin in one word, what would that be?

-True history.

That's two words.

-We'll hyphenate it.

True, hyphen, history.

-That's fine.

And that's what it is.

I mean, it's just no matter what the situation is, you walk in here and you're walking into history.

That is rare.

-What does The Martin mean to you?

-A lot of pride.

I mean, basically what I did was I took a run down old building with poor service, with all these things, and we turned it into basically a world famous restaurant.

We have travelers from all over the world who come through here, day in, day out, summer, winter, always coming through because they know that this is, this is a unique place and they enjoy it.

-I appreciate you sharing that with me.

And just looking at the walls and seeing what's here, there's so much history.

You can tell being in this building that a lot has happened here.

-Oh, man.

-I can't thank you enough for telling me about it.

-That's fine.

Happy to do it.

-Winnemucca is amazing.

It's definitely not what I expected.

It's one of those places the whole family can enjoy.

History, culture, and outdoor fun for everyone.

Next time you need a getaway, check out Winnemucca.

You will not be disappointed.

Till next time, I'm Connor Fields and this is Outdoor Nevada.