Winnemucca

Understand

Orientation

Winnemucca is the county seat of Humboldt County in northern Nevada, located on the Humboldt River, about halfway across the state on Interstate 80.

The center of town is around Winnemucca Boulevard and Melarkey Street, and the downtown historic district is on Bridge Street, which has been Winnemucca's main street since the 1870s. Casinos and hotels tend to be concentrated to the west of town near Interstate 80, and the train station is to the southeast towards more residential areas.

The nominal visitor's center is in a convention center at the corner of Winnemucca Blvd and Bridge St, but its posted hours are inscrutably contradictory and in any case not followed consistently, so don't count on getting assistance there.

History

Named after Chief Winnemucca of the local Northern Paiute tribe, the city was established in 1866 and was reached by the first transcontinental railroad in 1868. Numerous Basque and Chinese immigrants found their way to the area; the Basques mostly came to work with livestock and the Chinese to work on the railroad. Winnemucca's once-flourishing Chinatown has disappeared over time (though remnants are displayed at Humboldt Museum), but a strong sense of Basque pride remains, and Basque restaurants and cultural celebrations are a prominent part of the city's identity.

Climate

The dry air means that temperatures vary considerably over the course of the day. Dress in layers.

Get in

Winnemucca is reached via Interstate 80 coming from the east (Salt Lake City) or west (Reno), and by US-95 coming from the north (Boise) or south (Las Vegas).

Amtrak serves Winnemucca with the California Zephyr, which runs daily between Emeryville (in the San Francisco Bay Area) and Chicago, with stops including Sacramento, Reno, Elko, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Winnemucca station is an unstaffed platform with a simple shelter; trains arrive on the same platform going in both directions. As of 2023, the eastbound train is scheduled to arrive and depart Winnemucca at 7:08PM; going west it's a less convenient 5:40AM (though as always with Amtrak, plan for the possibility of significant delays).

Get around

The town itself is compact and reasonably walkable, presumably a legacy of its development well before the arrival of the automobile. Outside of the core downtown area, sidewalks are inconsistent, but the streets are wide so it doesn't feel too bad to walk on the shoulder when necessary.

For hiking and other activities outside of town, you'll need a car. If you're arriving by train but want a car to get around, rental cars are available at Humboldt Ford Car Rental, 3305 Potato Rd.

Go next

By car, you can take US 95 North to Boise, Lewiston, and Coeur d'Alene. Interstate 80 connects Winnemucca with Reno, Sacramento, and San Francisco to the west, and Elko, Salt Lake City, and the Rocky Mountains to the east. US 95 South goes with Interstate 80 West to south of Lovelock, where it goes down to Fallon, Las Vegas, and Yuma.

Going east, the train makes overnight stops in Elko, Salt Lake City, and Provo, then crosses the border into Colorado (Grand Junction and eventually Denver) the next morning. Going west, the next stop is Reno, then it's over the California border to Truckee and later Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. See California Zephyr for more.