reno-adventure-text

National Geographic Adventure, February, 2007
Adventure Town, Reno, NV

Rapid Transition
With shuttered casinos becoming condos for active residents, Reno trades in its slots for singletrack
by Erinn Morgan

Take a walk down First Street and you’ll hear the sounds of Reno’s future: There’s the clang of construction everywhere as worn-out casinos are repurposed as condos for California transplants. Over the past three years, Reno (pop. 207,000) has begun a transformation from Nevada’s runner-up gaming town to an adventure hub on par with Salt Lake City and Seattle. The Truckee River, with its 1.5-million-dollar white-water park, flows right through downtown, and Lake Tahoe’s 23,000 skiable acres and 583 miles of trails are within an hour and a half’s drive. “I can train, cross-country ski, and mountain bike, literally, right out my back door,” says Bobby Julich, 35, a resident who won third place in the 1998 Tour de France. The city is ramping up for even more outdoor options, creating direct access to the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail from downtown and linking four dammed sections of the Truckee into a 15-mile continuous stretch of white water for paddlers. That means you can go from living room to backcountry, no car required. It also means that for the mountain-obsessed, Reno looks like a winning bet.

Scouting Trip: Your Weekend in Reno
Where to Play: The Mount Rose Wilderness Area, 20 miles outside of town, boasts views of Lake Tahoe and the Nevada desert from the Tahoe Rim Trail (www.tahoerimtrail.org). The trail is mountain-bike friendly; Great Basin Bicycles (www.greatbasinbicycles.com) rents them for $25 a day. Even closer to town, Tahoe Whitewater Tours gives kayaking lessons on the Class II Truckee River ($100 for a day; www.gowhitewater.com).

Where to East and Drink: Near the Truckee white-water park, the Pneumatic Diner (775-786-8888) is a quirky vegetarian cafe with organic fare, including California’s Bonterra wines by the glass. For Mexican food, margaritas, and roving mariachis, Bertha Miranda’s (www.berthamirandas.com) is a local favorite.

Where to Stay: The Truckee River and downtown bike path wind by the plush Siena Hotel Spa Casino ($140; www.sienareno.com), perhaps Reno’s quietest hotel. Closer to the action, the Hyatt High Sierra Lodge is 27 miles from Reno and a few hundred yards from Tahoe ($349; www.hyatthighsierralodge.com).

Want to Live Here?
Real Estate Lowdown: The median single-family home price within city limits, $360,000, is edging up as Californians pour into the area. The best deals are to be found in the Sparks and Spanish Springs sections of Reno.

Hot Property: $616,000 buys a new 2,700-square-foot Toll Brothers home with views of Mount Rose and access to the Galena trail network (www.ferrari-lund.com).

The Local Economy: Reno’s low-tax climate and transportation hub position have attracted Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft Licensing and Cisco Systems, Inc. Even Patagonia is expanding its Reno global distribution center. Job growth rates ring in at 16.6 percent.

By the Numbers

218: Miles to Yosemite National Park

200: Number of free mint juleps served at last year;s Tour de Nez, a wacky Reno bicycle race.

11: Percentage Reno’s population grew from 2000 to 2005

22: Number of ski resorts within 90 minutes of Reno

“The community is full of arts and culture, adventure races, cycling, and people you want to be around.”
—Ty Whitaker, 28, an environmental scientist working on watershed restoration in Nevada