Pinyon Trail east of Gardnerville open to hikers, joggers, mountain bikers, equestrians and dogs

Pinyon Trailhead: (in)formal trail opening 

Between 10:00 am and 10:45 am on Saturday, March 14, the new, hand-constructed Pinyon Trail on the east side of the Carson Valley near Gardnerville, Nevada, was officially opened [1-4]. The trail project was funded by the Carson Valley Trails Association (CVTA) in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Douglas County. It all started less than two years ago with surveying the area by including an archaeologist. During the opening ceremony a Native American woman pledged respect for this recreational site of cultural and ecological significance.

The new non-motorized trail traverses gentle slopes of hilly pinyon-juniper woodland. The single-track trail provides access to public land and is open to hikers, joggers, mountain bikers, equestrians and dogs [5,6]. Pinyon Trail provides grand vistas of the Carson Range and the Pine Nut Mountains. According to the CVTA overview article, the trail system is much surrounded by not-always-marked private property [7].

The total round-trip length of Pinyon Trail is 5.2 miles, including 1,1 miles (one-way) for the trailhead-to-loop-junction section and 3.0 miles for the loop itself. The trail surface is soil with very few patches of bedrock.

Getting to the Pinyon Trailhead
The Pinyon Trailhead is located 6.7 miles east from the intersection of Highway 395 with the westbound Riverview Drive and the eastbound Muller Parkway at the southern outskirts of the Town of Gardnerville, Nevada. At this intersection, turn east on Muller Parkway. After 0.2 miles, turn right at the round-about and follow Pinenut Road (becoming Pinenut Road 2 past Dump Road) for 4.4 miles. At the Y-junction in which the paved Out-R-Way Road goes left, you will see the sign shown at the top of this post. Continue on the graveled section of Pinenut Road 2 for 2.3 miles until you arrive at the Pinyon Trailhead, which is on the left side, but has overflow parking further downhill to the right.

References and more to explore
[1] Bureau of Land Management News Release, Carson City District: BLM and Carson Valley Trails Association to Hold Opening for Pinyon Trail [www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2015/march/blm_and_carson_valley.html].
[2] Carson Valley, Nevada: Grand Opening Celebration!! [carsonvalleynevada.blogspot.com/2015/03/grand-opening-celebration.html].
[3] David Jacobs: Pinyon Trail set to open up on March 14. Reno Gazette-Journal, March 8, 2015, page 7A (also: www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/03/07/pinyon-trail-set-debut-near-gardnerville/24575171/).
[4] Carson Valley Times: Pinyon Trail Grand Opening March 14 [carsonvalleytimes.com/2015/03/09/pinyon-trail-grand-opening-march-14/].
[5] Carson Valley Trails Association: Pinyon Trail [http://www.carsonvalleytrails.org/Trails-PinyonTrail.html].
[6] Carson Valley Trails Association: Pinyon Trail Map [http://www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/PinyonTrail/PinyonTrailMap.pdf].
[7] Carson Valley Trails Association: Pinyon Trail Information [www.carsonvalleytrails.org/docs/PinyonTrail/PinyonTrailOverview.pdf].

Pinyon Trailhead during opening ceremony on March 14, 2015