High Desert ATV Tours

The Great Basin is the highest desert in North America. In the nineteenth century it was the big empty place that emigrant wagon trains had to cross on the five-month journey to California. And the place where Mark Twain leaned out the window of a stagecoach to get a glimpse of a solitary Pony Express rider racing through the night. Today, with modern vehicles it is much more accessible and safe. Let us take you out to experience its dark and mysterious beauty. Our high-desert tours go out year-round.

Pine Nut Mountains

For thousands of years the Washoe people came to the Pine Nut Mountains in the autumn to collect the nuts of the pinion pine, today Nevada’s state tree. The landscape is also studded with twisted junipers and perfumed with the scent of sagebrush. It is big, beautiful, and remote. This is the land of the mustangs, wild horses roaming free since the days of early Spanish, Mexican, and American travelers. Today more than 20,000 wild horses live in Nevada and about 800 live in the Pine Nuts. Keep a sharp eye out and you may be lucky enough to catch sight of them.

Look west from the Pine Nuts, just south of Reno, across the peaceful Carson Valley, toward the Carson Range, a branch of the Sierra Nevada. You may see snow on 10,633-foot Jobs Peak or on Genoa Peak, where we drive our summer Jeep and Hummer guests to 9,000 feet. Just the other side of these mountains lies the clear blue world of Lake Tahoe. The bottom of the lake is about the same elevation as the floor of the valley below you.

One of the best ways to explore the Pine Nut Mountains is on a Lake Tahoe Adventures High Desert ATV tour.

Most of our guests have never ridden an ATV before. We’ll show you how to operate the machine safely, and how to travel in our small groups with minimal impact on the land.

Our most popular desert tour, called the Ridge Run tour, is approximately two hours long including the orientation, safety talk, and rest and photo breaks. Singles and doubles are available on our 2-up machines.

For more fun, more riding time, and more big desert scenery, we offer a longer tour of approximately three hours that's called the Big Desert tour.