Eagle Valley Camping and Fishing
WOW … Camping at Eagle Valley … what a fantastic place to go and take the whole family or just a friend for a weekend get away. Juat a few hours outside Las Vegas is Eagle Valley. About a 10 - 15 minute drive from Pioche Nevada set in the mountains is one of the nicest places we have been camping in a very long time. The fishing is not bad either. Just outside Pioche is a little getaway where you can relax, cast out your poll and have a very enjoyable weekend or even a week. I wanted to stay longer but responsibility was calling me and we had to come home. I got to test out all of the equipment that I ordered from eBay. If you have been reading then you know I have been trying to get all of my camping gear and survival gear back and in stock. New everything for me and the family.
There is no cell phone reception so if you are looking for a place to get away from everyone and everything that bugs you every day this is a great place to hide away. There are several towns dotting the road on the way up there so you will have plenty of chances to stop and get those last minute things that you may have forgot.
Alamo also has one of the better Hot Springs where it is safe for everyone in the family. There is also the Caliente Hot Springs Motel and Spa that is very nice and just outside of Eagle Valley. Caliente is actually the second to last real town you will see before you see the lake. Then when you hit Pioche you are almost there. You don’t actually go through Pioche per say but you can still see it there in the distance. We made a pit stop there to check out the new pools that have been constructed and to see how warm the water was at this time of year. A nice temperature of about 87º and clean water that you can see through in every spot of the pools. There are several different areas of the springs so if one gets crowded you can hop over to any other part of the water and relax or make them move … lol!
There is also a look out on the way up there where you can see the entire valley that is surrounded with water beaten mountains. Not to mention Pioche which we didn’t get to stop in or go through since we waited until we were leaving before we decided that we should have stopped there.
The lake at Eagle Valley is full of fish so you are about 99.99% sure to catch a fish. Between the three of us we caught a total of 5 fish. Two of them went back in the water … one by accident. The lake in Eagle Valley is stocked with trout of almost every kind and they are very easy to catch if you know where on the lake to fish and you use the right bait. I won’t give away the secret bait that we were using but I will say this .. if your bait is spinning and shinning you are likely to catch something in almost any spot you pick.
The lake also offers access to boating for smaller boats. If you have a 3 - 4 man craft like an open bow or an aluminum boat with a small motor you can launch right at the entrance to the campground area. Eagle Valley is also very RV friendly. There are no hookups for water or electricity that I could find but there is a water and sewer drop of area where you can fill your tanks with potable water and drop off your sewage.
You may notice, depending on what time of year you go up there, that there are several spots before the Eagle Valley Resort where you can pull off the road and set up your tent or RV for free and stay a few nights next to the river and outside the resort area. The campground is $14 a night and that is for everyone. Unlike some of the campgrounds up at Mt. Charleston, you can have two or even three cars or ten tents on your campsite and there is still only a $14 a night charge. Now that is not saying that you can fit that many people in the sites but you can try if you like. I suggest that if you are traveling in several cars that you park by the lake after you find your site and drop off your gear.
Do you like to hike and camp out in the wilderness? Would you like to get away from everyone and get out into nature where you will see some very interesting and breathtaking views? Then take your backpack and head out on the trails of Eagle Valley. You can find your way through the West end of the campsite or head over to the East end of the lake and find trails that will keep you hiking for hours and even days. Up and down the mountains from peak to peak AND take your cell phone up there with you because at the top of most of the trails you can get some reception.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the area is kept. There is no trash anywhere and the whole area is just completely enjoyable. I think that if it had not been for the high winds that weekend and the expreme low temperatures I would have taken that hike and over night stay into the wilderness. I stayed in the campground though when I wasn’t fishing and only took a short hike to one of the peaks and to the huge hand carved cave where the lake drains into the river.
But I did get to test out my stove a couple times that I got the last minute before we left home. I’m happy to report that it worked fabulously even with the high winds. Just as I hoped it would. I found this stove on eBay along with a few others that are MSR Stoves and a lot cheaper in price than actually going to the retail stores or even ordering off of their site. I got this stove for $23.95, and that included shipping, from one of the stores on eBay. I was surprised that they sold them so much cheaper than in the REI store that has them for $39.95 and it is the exact same stove. We have an REI very close to us and I love to shop there but paying that much for the stove didn’t seem right to me when I could get such a great deal on it and I only had to wait a week to get it in the mail at my house. Very Nice!
I also got to try out this One Watt Headlamp that was pretty nice although the strap was a little small for my giant head. I got it to work well so I’m glad I made that purchase. It’s small and very light so carrying four of them with me in the pack is not as bad as you would think. I always like to take a few more of the things that I think I will lose or break.
