Prison Hill (Ormsby County, Nevada)

I arranged my schedule during this week in Reno to allow me some time to seek adventure and to spend time with friends. With that said, today I'm going to be exploring a couple of places I've had on my radar for a while. Some years ago, I ran a grueling trail 5k on a small mountain overlooking Carson City, NV from the east called Prison Hill. It's named as such because of the various incarnations of prisons that have been constructed over the decades on the below the northeastern corner of the mountain. These include the Nevada State Prison (now a historic site) and the Warm Springs Correctional Center. It's an unfortunate way for a mountain to get a name, but we give things monikers that relate something about them and I guess this fits.

The trailhead was a little hard to find as Google Maps took me to someone's driveway before I had a difference of opinion with the software and found my own way, which was only a short drive on a dirt road away. The facilities here are like new, as I don't think the declaration of this place as a recreational area happened all that long ago. I'm fairly certain, it wasn't defined as such when I moved to Atlanta just over six years ago. Regardless, I park the car and start heading up the desert trails.

The trail system is fairly complex here and I'm forced to look at my map a few times to ensure I stay on the course I had planned. It's not that I could get lost on this mountain, as it is surrounded by Carson City proper to the west and farms and ranches to the east. However, I have a set amount of time I want to spend here before heading to my next destination and I want to stick to my plan to ensure I have plenty of time. After following a shallow grade for a while, the incline starts to increase and I begin to climb to the ridge. This whole mountain complex is pretty rugged, though the trails do a fine job of keeping to the easier paths.

With the ridge reached, I head north to start the North Loop trail, but soon diverge to climb to the summit of the northern peak, where a pile of white rocks mark the spot. Looking at the map, I had seen a side trail that heads back down from the summit to the North Loop Trail and after spending a couple of minutes at the top for pictures, I take it. 

From here, I continue around the northern 'peninsula' of the mountain, which offers a view of the prison, but to get a decent angle, requires me to bushwhack just a little bit. It's really rocky up here and and it must have taken quite a bit of work to clear out the paths the trails now sit in. Making my way around the backside, the trial follows the contour of the mountain while offering views of the ranches below. In the distance, I hear some cows doing their best to imitate the rooster's welcome to the rising sun.

Soon, I'm back at the junction and making my way back down the mountain towards the parking lot. I hear a couple of mountain bikers in the distance. The way these trails are laid out, I bet they are spectacular for that sport. It's not really my thing though, as I prefer road biking and keeping trails for my feet. Back at the car, I check my distance and see that I'm at 4.2 miles. Not a bad way to start a morning.