About 25 miles southeast of Fallon off US Hwy 50, this recreation area boasts sand dunes that ‘sing, ’ occasionally producing a low-pitched boom. The best time to hear it is on a hot, dry evening when the dunes are not covered with screeching off-road vehicles and whooping sandboarders. Pony Express station ruins have been excavated at the small Sand Springs Desert Study Area. Designated campsites with vault toilets (no water) are free.
Near the Sand Mountain turn-off from US Hwy 50, look for the solar-powered Loneliest Phone in America. Another half-hour’s drive east, past Middlegate but before the junction with NV Hwy 722, the Old Shoe Tree stands on the north side of the road. Dozens of knotted pairs of sneakers have been tossed over the branches of a giant cottonwood. There was even a pair of roller skates hanging up there when we last drove by.
