Black Rock Desert / Gerlach Area

The Black Rock Desert stretches across northwestern Nevada approximately 100 miles north of Reno, forming one of the largest and flattest expanses of land on Earth — a 400-square-mile prehistoric lake bed that dries into a cracked alkaline playa of extraordinary flatness and silence. The playa is a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, the same prehistoric lake whose remnants include Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake, and during the spring the surrounding hills drain into it to create a shallow temporary lake before the summer sun evaporates the water completely. The flat, smooth surface is so level that it has been used for world land speed record attempts, with Spirit of America, Thrust SSC, and other purpose-built vehicles having set records here. The town of Gerlach, a small community of approximately 200 people at the edge of the playa, serves as the gateway and provides basic services including fuel — the only services available for a considerable distance in any direction. The Black Rock National Conservation Area surrounding the playa includes dramatic volcanic geology, active geothermal hot springs, and rock art sites. Double Hot Springs, located north of Gerlach, offers soaking in natural thermal pools of varying temperatures in a completely undeveloped desert setting. The playa is best known internationally as the location of Burning Man, the annual arts and music event that draws approximately 70,000 people to Black Rock City each summer. Outside of Burning Man week (late August–early September), the playa returns to solitude and silence that is profound and rarely experienced in the contemporary world. Petroglyphs are found in the volcanic outcrops surrounding the playa, and the entire area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.