101 Scenic Drives to Hiking Trailheads Less than Two Hours from Reno

The 101 free maps listed below were hand-built by Tom Herbertson, based on the driving directions provided by Elizabeth and Christopher in their book Base Camp Reno: 101 Hikes From Sage to Snow published by Imbrifex Books in April 2022. All of the maps start in downtown Reno at the Sign proclaiming Reno as “The Biggest Little City in the World” and provide the best driving routes to each of the 101 trailheads described by the authors in the book.

Special Note: When these maps were created, some of the roads were subject to snow and seasonal closures and and so some of the routes might not always follow the directions in the book to the trailheads, because the underlying Google database prevents us from creating maps on roads with construction or seasonal closures. But the route shown on the maps is as close to the author’s instructions as we could get them. In some cases, the parking lots to the trailheads described in the book are not indexed by the Google Maps program and we could not get the mapping program to draw the “line” to the trailhead. The most accurate descriptions to these trailheads are found in the book and were checked in-person by the authors on more than one occasion.

You can use these maps as is, or add your own additional points of interest by registering for a free account on RoadTripAmerica.com. If you don’t already have an account, you can register here. The account is free and allows you to customize, save, and share maps. Please read the instructions below this list for more info on how to use, customize, save, and share your maps.

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Northeastern Sierra Nevadas
001 Frenchman Lake
002 Adam’s Peak
003 Lakes Basin
004 Beckworth Pass Loop

Jamison Lake, Hike #3

005 Badenough Waterfalls
006 Babbit Fire Tower
007 Sardine Peak
008 Stampede Overlook
009 Little Truckee River
010 Verdi Fire Tower
011 Boca Ridge
012 Truckee River Canyon

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Petersen Mountains
013 Red Rock Cliffs
014 Sand Hills

015 Petersen Springs
016 Little Petersen
017 Goldstone Loop
018 Cold Springs
019 Silver Knolls

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the North Valleys
020 Dogskin Mountain
021 Moon Rocks
022 Warm Springs Mountain
023 Freds Mountain
024 Hungry Valley
025 Hungry Ridge Loop
026 Granite Hills
027 Swan Lake
028 Spanish Benchmark

Looking toward Spanish Springs, Hike #28

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Pah Rah Range

029 Pyramid Lake
030 Tule Peak
031 Incandescent Rocks
032 Seagull Point/a>
033
Virginia Peak
034 Sugarloaf
035 Griffith Canyon Petroglyphs
036 Spanish Springs Peak
037 Olinghouse
038 Airway Loop

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Truckee Meadows area
039 Sun Valley Park
040 Peavine Peak
041Keystone Canyon
042 Evans Canyon
043 Dog Valley
044 West Peavine

045 Oxbow Park
046 Steamboat Ditch
047 Hunter Creek Falls
048 Rattlesnake
049 Huffaker Hills
050 Steamboat Hills

Scenic Drives to Hikes near Donner Pass
051 Sierra Buttes
052 Webber Lake
053 Webber Falls
054 Mount Lola
055 Sagehen Creek
056 Castle Peak
057 Summit Lake

Webber Falls, Hike #55

058 Alder Creek
059 Boca Hill
060 Mount Judah and Donner Peak
061 Coldstream Canyon
062 Martis Creek Lake and Lake Ella
063 Five Lakes

Scenic Drives to Hikes around North Lake Tahoe
064 Martis Peak
065 Kings Beach Tahoe Rim Trail
066 Incline Flume Trail
067 Stateline Point

068 Sand Harbor
069 Chimney Beach
070 Marlette Lake

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Carson Range
071 Upper Thomas Creek
072 Thomas and White Creeks Loop
073 Church’s Pond
074 Brown’s Creek
075 Mount Rose
076 Mount Houghton and Relay Peak

077 Tamarack Lake
078 Tamarack Peak
079 Incline Peak
080 Tahoe Meadows
081 Chickadee Ridge
082 Ophir Creek
083 Genoa Loop

Scenic Drives to Hikes in the Virginia Range
084 Chalk Bluff
085 Hidden Valley Peak
086 Hidden Valley Canyon
087 Lagomarsino Petroglpyphs

Glorious wildflowers, alpine meadow

088 Louise Benchmark
089 Geiger Grade
090 Mount Davidson and Mount Bullion
091 Washoe Lake
092 Mount Scott
093 Basalt Hill

Scenic Drives to Hikes near Carson City
094 Patua Hot Springs
095 Grimes Point
096 Rocky Peak
097 Emma Peak
098 Fort Churchill
099 Kings Canyon Falls
100 Prison Hill
101 Bently Heritage Trail

Please note that each map includes the described route from the book and 3-4 of the RTA attractions found along it. You can add additional attractions from the book or points of interest of your own choosing to the maps.

After registering, you will be able to customize any and all of the 101 maps listed above by navigating to “Advanced Maps” (in the navigation bar at the top of every page) or clicking here.

Top of Little Petersen, Hike #16
    On the left hand column of the “Advanced Maps” page you will see some tables labeled as follows:

My Maps
My Custom Places
My Routes
My Drawn Routes
RTA Map Library — this is where you will find the list of maps that correspond to the routes in the book.

All the routes described in 101 Hikes in Colorado’s Front Range are labeled like this: West BCD-##-Hike Name (where ## represents the hike number associated with that map). So, the first one you will see in that list is called “West-BCD-01-Denver to Pawnee Buttes Trailhead.” The easiest way to see all 101 routes is to use the bcd in the keyword search box.

If you click on the blue line under the number next to the word “West” it will open the link to the route.

Some key elements to note:

1. If you click on the blue flag labeled “1” you will find a description of the route and details about long it takes to drive this route.
2. The icons that have little colored flags are RoadTrip Attractions published by RoadTrip American contributing writers. They are not specifically related to Pete KJ’s hiking guide, just a quick means of getting to the trailhead.

You can save this RTA Library map into your personal collection of maps. Here are some general instructions about how to do that:

To modify a RTA Library Map and Save it as one of your Personal Maps:

Click on the number link. At this point, you can add your personal Custom Places and then save whatever is on your screen as a map. Just click the “Save Map” button. The map’s name will now appear in the “My Maps” box in the left-hand column.

To create a new map based on the original RTA Library Map + some new places that you’d like to add, you will be using the RTA Custom Maps “Waypoints” system. The Waypoints system is explained in greater detail on the Advanced Maps page — look for MAP INSTRUCTIONS.

Once you have added any new Custom Places, you would save the new map that you just created. Note: The resulting blue line route might not follow the exact route of the RTA Library Maps because there is a limitation on the number of waypoints available (23 waypoints plus the beginning and ending locations) but you can use the RTA flags and your new Custom Places markers as those waypoints and choose your new starting and ending locations. The resulting map will be very similar to the original RTA Library Map. (For more information about using the “Waypoint” system, see post #1 in this thread.)

And if you need help with any of this, please get in touch with us via email to map.center.support@roadtripamerica.com. You can also join the map discussion on the Trip Advice Planning Forum.

Christopher and Elizabeth Barile

Christopher and Elizabeth Barile

Christopher and Elizabeth Barile have developed a passion for the natural world through hiking. They have hiked thousands of miles together while carrying their two young children on their backs. In addition to summiting over 150 peaks in the Greater Reno area, Christopher and Elizabeth have visited 40 U.S. national parks. Some of their other favorite outdoor activities include backpacking, camping, snowshoeing, and birding. Both Christopher and Elizabeth have advanced degrees in chemistry from Stanford University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Christopher is a chemistry professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Elizabeth is an artist and educator. "Base Camp Reno: 101 Hikes From Sage to Snow" will be in bookstores and everywhere online April 5, 2022.

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