Jeep Jamboree Nevada Trail Ride - The Other Outback

Millions of years before Lake Lahontan covered central Nevada, dinosaurs roamed the region and giant predatory fish ruled the sea. Fossilized and entombed under tons of soil, the ichthyosaur, a carnivorous fish of up to 40 feet in length, once hunted for smaller fish, land-borne animals, and anything else that ventured into its food chain.

Far south of the Loneliest Road, the 19th century mining camp of Berlin has been converted into a state park. Many of the old structures have been preserved and are open for exploration.

Over the past century, the pilfering of mining-era relics has left all but the most remote ghost towns stripped of any recognizable artifacts. State parks such as Berlin, Nevada, or Bodie, California, have been protected and are great places to get up-close and personal with the region's history.

Nevada is peppered with open pit mines. Some are shallow depressions, but others are deep and wide enough to swallow a fleet of 4x4s. Some are fenced; others can be major hazards to the inattentive.

Sitting at the terminus of a set of narrow-gauge rails, an old ore cart stands sentinel over a carpeted valley of sage. In years past, steam engines, mules, or humans pulled hundreds of tons of ore from the depths of the Berlin Mine.

Bored through solid rock with handtools and dynamite, the Walter Bowler Mine near the ghost town of Berlin is open for public tours. This subterranean system encompasses thousands of feet of tunnels and multiple levels. Cold, damp, hazardous conditions lent to a very short lifespan for early miners.

Built of local stone and timber from the Sierras, the Ore House Saloon in Ione, Nevada, is as authentic as they come. With a population of eight, the town has somehow managed to keep the local saloon doors open. It was also our lunch stop on the first day.

When your truck dies, conventional wisdom says to stay with it until help arrives. When it happens in the middle of Nevada, you might just take advantage of the Homestead Act and set up permanent residence on a nearby creek. Such is the case in Osceola, where early homesteaders eventually mined gold and silver from the nearby hills.