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First off, let's clear things up: There are no White Pines in White Pine County! The term, 'White Pine' was put to use when the "heavy growth of trees thought to be white pine", were actually limber pine found nestled high in the county's three greatest mountain ranges.
With that said, ask any Nevadan where the most scenic areas in Nevada can be found. No doubt, there will be a tie between Elko and Ely. In many cases, White Pine County might even be the hands-down winner. The county's testament to being a scenic wonderland may be an understatement; home to three of Nevada's highest mountain ranges, including Nevada's only year-round glacier and fully contained National Park in Nevada, White Pine is more than just a county -- it is home. In addition, some of Nevada's most extensive hunting and fishing grounds lie within White Pine's borders. For sportsmen, White Pine country can be a welcomed home away from home. There is a reason I find myself coming to White Pine's gorgeous scenery every year just to savor it all over again.
Nature of the Land
The Schell Creek Range, stretching for nearly ninety miles from north to south, makes up Ely's eastern backbone. The Schells scrape the sky with eleven thousand foot peaks, a true island wilderness with flowing perennial streams and mostly undiscovered high-country. As such, not only is White Pine's elevation extreme, but its climate is among the most temperamental in all of Nevada. Simultaneously however, without such extremes, there would be little here to persuade refugees of the land, tough men, cattle men, railroad men, and sportsmen who've all had a tremendous impact on White Pine's terrain. Miners found refuge in the land's isolated canyons, often building small camps along mountain creeks wherever "color" was found. Old camps like Piermont, Aurum, Kalamazoo, and Berry Creek still lie mostly hidden and isolated within White Pine's deep defiles. The Egans, just on the other side of Ely, form a solid barrier where elk and mountain lion still find haven from the desert floors to the west. Areas like the Egans form prime hunting grounds for modern hunters, as they did for ancient hunters thousands of years ago. Even today a hunter would be hard-pressed to find better hunting grounds than the ranges of White Pine County. But perhaps the highlight of them all has to be the Snake Range - a mountain island unlike any other in the Silver State.
The Snake Range and Wheeler Peak (Nevada's only year-round glacier) hold testament to the geologic history of the Great Basin. The Snakes, thought be to isolated blocks of the Rocky Mountains, house hundreds of Colorado plant species that end their retreat westward here among the range's forested slopes; in ranges like the Snakes, geology has also mixed together like a primordial, giant soup bowl, or a giant salad with rare and prehistoric treats tossed in for enjoyment. Granite, sedimentary, and limestone earth, all present and accounted for lured men seeking fortunes. These wanderers equated a simple formula: "rocks with character" equal rocks with promise. To be most optimistic, such rocks were rocks of fortune! No doubt, those old timers knew a thing or two! In lower elevations, men also equated a formula in the valleys in White Pine County. "Low ground equals safe ground." Indeed, White Pine's valleys have always held great significance throughout time. Instead of rugged and sometimes impassable high country, such flat terrain became avenues for transportation. At one time, Steptoe Valley was one such avenue, housing a railroad line for transporting ores and other material to nearby mining camps. The formula "safe ground" also meant a haven from high-country extremities. Low land also equated to possible agriculture, as well something that is often taken for granted: space. Dozens of other valleys in White Pine County remain some of the most pristine in all of Nevada; valleys such as Butte Valley, Goshute and Egan Valleys provided Pony Express Riders with a nice break from the steep mountain terrain. These valleys even today, seem to enjoy their isolation, quaint and forgotten so that remnants of these old stations stand preserved and hardly untouched, counting time by the sand grain in an eternal hourglass. Steptoe Valley today remains a busy avenue as a trustworthy corridor for US 93. Commuters have a calm piece of mind and a sense of open spaciousness as they head from Idaho to Vegas on the blacktop highway. Truly, with its eternal skies, massive ramparts, wide, spanning valleys, White Pine County is a quiet eastern child, a large piece of ground understood only by understanding its terrain.
The Markers
As a traveler, photographer, sportsmen, or whatever your exterior may be, you will quickly see the cartography of White Pine County resembles that of a spider's web with Ely at its nucleus. Three main highways - US 6, US 50 and 93 - all converge then traverse away in every direction from Ely, White Pine's seat and largest community. In White Pine, Ely is king, proudly wearing the crown in terms of services; its servants are friendly people that demand a cozy "home", or "home away from home" (whichever pertains to you.) However, except for outdoorsmen, it's also this hospitality that limits many of White Pine's visitors, for nearly all of the county's secrets lie away from the paved highway. Many visitors tend to limit themselves to pavement thanks to Ely's gracious hospitality. However, White Pine is excellent to embrace whatever your perogatives may be. Whether you rest like a king at the Ramada, or enjoy a quiet, poor man's camp under the stars, White Pine rarely disappoints. Choose from campouts that are located days away, such as Goshute Canyon, Great Basin Nat'l Park, or the Upper Snakes along Hendrys Creek. Or camps not too far from town, such as Cave Lake, Ward Mountain Recreation Area, or Ward Charcoal Ovens, provide just that bit of utopia without straying too far. Believe me folks. There is too much to see in White Pine to limit yourself to a hotel or lodge. Answer the call: White Pine awaits!
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