fort churchill state historic park

Civil War era desert fort, with a small museum and cemetery. It is neat to view the diarama inside and then walk through the ruins. A great experience.

Fort Churchill State Historic Park is interesting to visit. As a fort, it was active from 1860 to 1869. It served a a fort to work on the relationships between pioneers and Native Americans in the area. It was an active fort during the Pyramid Lake War. In the war, the fort lost 2/3rds of its people.Fort Churchill also provided protection for the Pony Express Mail Route. During the American Civial War, it also served as an important supply depot for the Union Army.In 1869 it was put out of commission.There is historic parts of the fort to see. There is also hiking trails as well as a museum. The Visitor Center has exhibits on the history of Fort Churchill, Native Americans in the area, as well as information about the area.

The Buckland Station building has a cute museum well worth a stop if you are driving thru the area. Pretty cool historical significance and story. There is a campground and the do allow special events.The highway (Hwy 95A) runs literally in front of the Buckland Station building. Don't blink or you will drive past. You can see the ruins of the fort from the highway, if you know to look.This is a place we stop when we have out of town visitors. I don't remember a set fee, but I do remember giving a donation.

We enjoyed stopping here on our 10 day tour of Nevada. There was a small museum explains the history of the location. After going thru the museum, we hiked thru the settlement/fort ruins and took many photographs. A very quiet, out of the way interesting spot with few visitors.

When we first called this park to learn about the facilities at their horse camp, we were told that we would have to leave on Sunday because they had a group coming in on Tuesday! When I assured them we would be leaving early Monday morning, they refused to believe it, and insisted we leave on Sunday (we don't like to drive on Sunday in case we have road trouble). I was also told that there was no extra charge for tow vehicles, so when we arrived, we paid for a week, through Sunday. As it turned out, we left on Friday, after the rangers rousted us out of bed (the 2nd time in 4 days) and demanded we pay double because we had two vehicles (only one camping vehicle, the other was only a small horse trailer!) In five years of camping with horses, we have never been asked to pay full freight for both vehicles! I offered to pay a reduced second vehicle fee, which is the norm in many places, they refused. When I told them I had been told that tow vehicles didn't get charged, the supervisor said that meant vehicles towed in behind motorhomes, not tow vehicles, a world of difference to the astute RVer. Rather than admit that it may have been simply a misunderstanding, he copped an attitude that he had been working there for years, and couldn't have been mistaken, we were at fault, and if we didn't pay immediately, they would charge us a $187 non-payment citation! Well, needless to say, we said, no thanks, we'd leave immediately, which we did. Not even willing to discount it when the river, where we would normally be able to water the horses, was completely dry, and we had to truck water in all week! Completely unreasonable, completely illogical, completely rude to their "customers." Exactly the kind of bureaucrats that are ruining this country! Final icing was when one of the rangers walked away, in a very snarky voice, said, "Have a nice day," which almost set me to violence, I was so mad by this time. NEVER AGAIN!! Would not recommend under ANY circumstance.

We changed our route when we noticed this on the map. Glad we did! Very clean, well kept, great historical knowledge. We were the only ones there on a late Monday in August. Wish we had brought a picnic. Plenty of parking, plenty of information shared, yet we saw not one other person. This is a civil war site, some original and much partially painstakingly reproduced. Also a Pony Express stop. Great job Nevada!

This site is farther off Hwy 50 near Silver Springs. Entrance fee per vehicle is $7 for 7 days and paid by envelope at the gate. There is a nice little museum set up under a canopy of shade trees along with clean restrooms (outhouses). The remnants of the military fort are visible just west of the museum and the post cemetery is just north. A walk around the back side of the museum offers one a view of the valley with the greenery running along the banks of the Carson River. Out front is a nice sculpture dedicated to the Pony Express who also used the spot. We enjoyed the stop.

This is a fairly rudimentary piece of preserved Nevada history, but worth a visit if you have the time. What is really fascinating is to take the road on beyond the park (the Road Less Traveled), and follow the Carson River until the road links up with US 50 near Dayton.

This Nevada Gem campground has several pull-thru spots for us Big Rigs (we are 55' with toad) and we were able to navigate just fine. Campground is past the historical site in a cottonwood grove with tables, firepits, water, and dumpstation; grand for a 'wild' experience with the MOST coyotes I ever seen (and I'm from Wyoming!). Memory is that CG fee was $17/night. See also: rvparkreviews.com, a great resource for us RVer's. 4* since there was no hook-ups.Had we more time we certainly would've taken the time to visit the museum but we'll be back.Hints: The bridge at the beginning of the CG is narrow, but like us, to make it easier you can pull through the dumpstation to navigate the 90 degree turn just past the bridge. Too, the turn (West) off Hwy Alt95 is just at the TOP of a blind hill ... be careful of traffic.