Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake lies 35 miles north of Reno entirely within the boundaries of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation in Washoe County, Nevada, and is among the most visually striking and ecologically significant desert lakes in North America. The lake is a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, a vast inland sea that covered much of northwestern Nevada during the last ice age and has since receded to leave this 27-mile-long, 11-mile-wide terminal lake as one of its largest surviving traces. The water is intensely colored — a vivid aquamarine and turquoise that appears almost tropical against the surrounding beige and rust desert hills and sky — and its distinctive alkalinity gives the surface a silky appearance. The lake's defining landmark is the Pyramid, a 375-foot tufa rock formation rising dramatically from the lake's southern end, giving the lake its name when explorer John C. Frémont first saw it in 1844. The lake lies entirely within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe's sovereign territory and a tribal recreation permit ($10 per day) is required for all visitors for activities including swimming, boating, camping, and photography. Permits are available at the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum and Visitors Center in Nixon, at tribal offices, or through the tribe's online system. The lake is renowned for trophy Lahontan cutthroat trout fishing — a subspecies native to the Lahontan Basin and reintroduced here through tribal fishery management programs. Annual fishing contests draw anglers from across Nevada and neighboring states. Anaho Island at the lake's eastern shore is a designated national wildlife refuge and critical nesting site for the American white pelican — one of the largest pelican colonies in North America — and strict boundaries must be respected. Camping is permitted at tribal camping areas on the western shore.