Water Canyon Recreation Area

We stopped here for just one night. We arrived at 6:30 pm toured the campsites and settled in a large spot near the vault bathroom with a lovely view of the canyon on one side and the town in the distance on the other. It was in the low 90's when we arrived and had a slight wind. We could hear the birds and babbling creek below us. There were lots of tables in our spot and a grill. High fire season posted asked campers not to have a fire in the campsites.

This was our first BLM experience so we were a bit nervous at first but this appears to be a well known spot as there was a lot of traffic on the road going up and down the campsites. Not enough to distract. Nearby the cattle are grazing and have figured out how to get around the enclosure. Free range cows= happy cows. We watched a few walk down the water canyon and come up the trail path and around our camp. Pretty funny but they didn't seem concerned by us or the dog.

The night stayed warm and by mid morning when we left it was in the 70's. We enjoyed the trail and hearing the birds, watching the lizards and butterflies go by and enjoying the view. If we come back through Winnemucca again, we will stop here.

This is a popular, free, BLM site outside of Winnemucca. Access was very easy and because of the loops in the road any size rig could fit and turn around. The sites were large and mostly level. They were also clean thanks to a woman volunteer who picks up after campers. Facilities consisted of vault toilets, fire pits, and tables. No water, dump, or power. There is a series of hiking and biking trails on the hills around the canyon and these are separate from others that are used by OHVs and motocross bikes. This accounted for a fair amount of traffic on the road, our only negative comment. I think it is also a bit of a local party place and this was mentioned by the local volunteer. We would stay here again. We got digital over air TV and cell was good with Verizon.

One my way from Utah to Oregon I decided to trek across northern Nevada for the first time. Water Canyon is conveniently just outside Winnemucca and was a quiet stop for a few days. The amount of the birds, the creek and the wind was rejuvenating. The campsites I saw have fire rings, picnic tables and often a shelter over the tables. There is some strenuous hiking available but the views are great.

Other reviews are dead on.
Dirt road in was acceptable – a little rough, just go slow. We passed 3-4 good RV sites on the way up the canyon, one occupied by a small Class A, and parked at this site: 40.92694, -117.66793. Clean pit toilet (with TP), covered picnic area with newly painted picnic tables, and an empty dumpster. Farther up the canyon there are several more spots big enough for any size RV and a large turn around at the top. Fair Verizon 4G in this location but was spotty coming up the road from entrance. Good OTA TV signal – all the major networks with a “good” signal strength. Pointed “The Jack” antenna at 260 degrees true.

Beautiful site. Nice stream, assume snow melt fed. Great view of the valley below and the snow covered hills/mountains.

Like the other reviews, we found this location to be beautiful. We arrived around 3:00pm on a Saturday afternoon and there were still a few spots left. The road is a bit rough in places, but if you take it easy it will be fine. Several places with enough room for us to turn around (31' travel trailer). Lots of room between sites and a nice babling creek to top it off!

Just inside and to the South of Winnemucca, NV. OK for a day or two, so I stayed for apx 5 days. Road goes quite a ways back, I went a little bit, but started to narrow with no place to turn around, luckily found a place and did. I stayed at the Group Site as the lower ones were full. Has a great view. Very busy with ATVs so lotsa dust and traffic, especially on the weekends. Suggest getting as far off the main dirt road as possible. Most sites are right off the road, would be dusty. I couldn't find much else out there free, Dunes, but you'll see that didn't quite work out. There is a stream down below in the gully and hiking trail along side it which looked nice.

Once you get past the 3-mile dirt road, the sites are actually pretty nice. We had a hard time getting level in our Class C, but once we did, we enjoyed our stay.

Logistics: It's off a long dirt road just outside of town. You have to drive by several RV parks and KOA's to get here, but it's worth it. It's free and the views are beautiful. There are places to turn around on the road and if you go all the way to the top there is a large turnaround so if you have a bigger rig, don't worry, you won't get stuck. It is a bit bumpy getting in but if you take it slow, you will be fine. Several of the sites are shaded.

To do: Hiking, fires, head into Winnemucca. Winnemucca is actually a neat town with a lot of mining history. We enjoyed our stay at the campgrounds and didn't venture into town. There is plenty of hiking both on and off the trail. This is an ATV paradise and they are passing the sites all night long. It was noisy but if you have ever stayed in a WalMart parking lot, it really isn't anything to worry about.

Cell Service: We had good coverage and enough to work from. We were able to video chat and stream using our Verizon service. We didn't test our T-Mobile service with streaming, but it had nice coverage.

The campsites were right off the road. They aren't that private since they are so close, but there isn't a lot of car traffic on the road so it was fine. Some sites sit a little further off the road than others and like other reviewers mention, the further you go up, the less busy it gets. We saw a variety of trailers, RVs, Tents, and truck camping at all the sites.

We would absolutely stay again if we were driving through the area.

Note that this is a 3 day max stay area. To stay longer you MUST get approval from the BLM office (I am pretty sure there is one in town). We ran into a BLM employee at a campsite and he was super nice and authorized our extended stay, however, note it is rarely done "in season". (We were here mostly during the week in Early October). Beautiful view (we took the first spot on the way in, so we could see both canyon and huge view. There are others up the way. If you have a larger rig you will probably want to stay in one of the first 3 or 4.
There is a turn around at the end, but could be problematic with a larger rig and campers in the turn around. Everything you need is close by and the Maverick Gas station at the stop light on the corner at the bottom of the hill has a free RV dump and water! Way better than the Flying J down the road. Looks to be a newer station. (Herman and Hercules I believe are the names of the crossroads). As others have said some road traffic and dust but really pretty minimal and did not bother us. Most sites have covered picnic tables. They do an excellent job of keeping it clean and BLM (or others working with them) routinely go thru and make sure all is good. The sites are not all that level but with a little ingenuity you should be able to level any size rig.

We didn't drive too far in once we got there, we stayed in the 3rd or 4th site we came to on the right. It was next to a brook with butterflies and birds everywhere! It was like we stumbled into a little piece of paradise. There were a lot of RV's that went by us, but it was fairly peaceful. We only had time to stay one night, but I would be happy spending all 3!

Great little canyon about 3.4 miles south out of Winnemucca. This is however a locals hangout due to how close to town it is...with that said, there is a LOT of traffic from early morning until very late at night. All sites are just off the road, so you hear all the traffic. There's only a couple sites for 30'+ RVs. We got our 35' 5th wheel into a nice pull thru next to the creek. Picnic table, flowers and tons of birds and butterflies.