Kershaw-Ryan State Park, Nevada

Friday, June 21 - Kershaw-Ryan State Park is situated in a colorful, scenic canyon at the northern end of Rainbow Canyon, in eastern Nevada.

Caliente is the nearest town to this gem of a park. The campground is brand new, though the park has been here since 1926 when the Ryan family donated Kershaw Gardens (named for the original owners who farmed there) to the state for use as a public park.  

The facilities built by the CCC in 1934 were washed away in flash floods in 1984, and the new camping facility has been relocated to an area in the canyon thought to be less vulnerable to that kind of damage. They've also done a bit of work to divert any potential flooding. Raising the roadbed and creating diversion channels look like effective measures to manage the occasional cloudburst.

 

The park has a new 15-unit RV/tent campground with beautiful new restrooms that include showers. There is water available at several locations between the sites, but no electric or sewer hookups.  In a move to bring to life the early pioneer history of the area the campground also includes a small vineyard. Unusual in a campground to say the least!

Sites are spacious, and we enjoyed the view of the cliffs from the one we selected. There were no neighbors until late in the afternoon, so we had an unobstructed view of the colorful cliffs around us.

This campground would be a good home base while visiting local points of interest, like the historic towns of Pioche and Caliente.

We were fortunate to be in a place with wide open skies at this time of year. We witnessed what some call a "super moon" and took advantage of the great photo opportunity.
"This full moon is not only the closest and largest full moon of the year. It also presents the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013."

View of the moon from our campsite

The steep, eroded canyon walls tower to 700 feet and overlook a long, narrow valley. Early settlers in the area cultivated a garden of grape vines, fruit trees. Remnants of that oasis still exist at the upper end of the canyon, along with a grass lawn surrounding a spring-fed pond that provides a beautiful contrast to the rugged landscape. There's a picnic area, children’s wading pool, playground, group-use area and trails offer visitors nature study, photography, picnicking and hiking. 

We’d planned only a quick overnight stop, so didn’t explore all the corners of the canyon. That’s definitely on the list for a return visit! This park is very near Cathedral Gorge, where we stayed in2010 (see that post). It’s an attractive area, full of history, and well worth a visit.

  Kershaw-Ryan State Park is located two miles south of Caliente via U.S. 93 and State Route 317.