Nevada Highway 93 boondock jewel: Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge

By Russ and Tiña De Maris

There are plenty of long and lonely stretches of road Out West. Traveling north out of Las Vegas on the 2-lane blacktop of US-93, things get pretty scary for an RVer. The voices on our tape dramas begin to loll one into a (dangerous) trance-like state. Oh, it’s time to be off the road and resting up. But where?

Just south of the burg of Alamo is a big (by Nevada standards) lake, Pahranagat. The lake is the centerpiece of a National Wildlife Refuge, and serves as a stopping point for migratory birds. It’s also a great stopping point for migratory RVers and, happily, the stopover is free. 

You’ll find 15 primitive lakeside campsites along Upper Pahranagat Lake, all of them on a first-come, first-served basis. They are free of charge, though a donation box is provided at the registration kiosk. The refuge may reserve sites for groups participating in a service project as part of their stay. 

Several of the sites can accommodate multiple tents, trailers or motorhomes. As you might expect, there are no electrical hookups, nor is there any fresh water or a dump station. Vault toilets (no flush) are provided. Maximum stay limit is 14 days within a 31-day period. Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Generators are allowed, but if the generator is noisy it should be shut down overnight to respect other campers. Here’s a link to a campground site map. 

The views of the lake are soothing, and on our early August stop, we didn’t mind not using the generator as a spanking breeze came up and gave us natural cooling action. 

Here’s a video of the lake taken from our boondocking site:

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