Gap Mountain Campground

This year-round campsite is located at 5,220 feet above sea level and hosts six campsites. This is a primative campsite with no facilities. The campground lies approximately 80 miles south of Ely, Nevada in the dry, high desert. There is a fourteen day stay limit at the campground. The campground adjoins Kirch Wildlife Management Area. Settlement of the White River Valley progressed during the 1870s when isolated homesteads appeared, generally associated with meadows where a water supply was available. During the early 1900s, W. E. McGill and J. W. Adams formed the Adams-McGill Company which owned and operated a successful ranching empire for several decades with ranch land and associated federal rangeland totaling nearly 100,000 acres. Ervin Hendrix purchased the Sunnyside and Hot Creek Ranches in 1943 and operated the ranch until 1959. The Nevada Fish and Game Commission recognized the wildlife potential of the property and purchased the area in 1959. In May 1968, the area was established as the Wayne E. Kirch WMA in honor of Fish and Game Commissioner Wayne E. Kirch of Clark County. Today, KWMA is comprised of a total of 14,815 acres, including five major reservoirs. The Hot Creek Refugium, which is located in the north central portion of the area, has been designated as a National Natural Landmark and is also designated as critical habitat for the protected Moorman White River springfish.