Hiking The “Swiss Alps of Nevada”: Discovering the Beauty of the Ruby Mountains

If you drive across the expansive sagebrush-covered landscape of Nevada, the last thing you may expect to find is the breathtaking paradise found within Lamoille Canyon, just outside the town of Elko. But that’s exactly what the glacier-carved landscape provides. Snow-capped peaks rising over 11,000 feet into the sky and alpine lakes clear enough to view the clouds. I’ll be honest, when we first headed to the Ruby Mountains I arrived with some rather high expectations, but I wasn't prepared for just how unbelievable this range actually is. 

This is the magic of hiking in Nevada, the ability to transition from the hot desert floor to the cool, lush canyons and radiant forests and serene mountains. It’s a living testament to why being a nature lover in Nevada is so special. For those of us who call this state home, landscapes like this are why we are proud to call Nevada home. They are the rewarding secrets kept for those who know that Nevada’s true beauty can be found by getting a little bit of dust on your boots and having a heart that yearns for the wild outdoors. To live here and find these contrasting landscapes to explore is to constantly be in awe. 

That awe was precisely what was fueling our Nevada road trip this summer as we left the desert and adventured North to the heart of the Ruby Mountain range. 

Making our morning entrance into the South Fork Lamoille Canyon, as the sun continued to rise over the Elko horizon, it began to crest over the canyon painting the lush meadows that lined the Lamoille Creek and towering mountainous landscape in golden hues that were absolutely breathtaking. The lighting was so captivating in contrast to the vibrant greens that surrounded us, we couldn’t help but pull over to bask in the beauty and walk a short path as we read about the two Lamoille glaciers which formed in 250,000 B.C. and carved out the current U-shaped valley over 215,000 years later.

It is because of this textbook example of the U-shaped glacial valley that the Ruby Mountains' Lamoille Canyon is often called the "Yosemite of Nevada" or the "Swiss Alps" of Nevada. Most mountain valleys are V-shaped (carved by water), but only the immense power of a 1,000-foot-thick glacier can "bulldoze" a valley into the wide, flat-bottomed "U" shape like the one here.

Further along on the road we made another pit stop to learn about the prominent avalanche chute. Here, the steep terrain creates snowpack that creates repeating slab avalanches which occur at even the slightest disturbance, sometimes triggered by nothing more than the vibration of soundwaves. Standing, looking at the base of the chute and looking up I got chills thinking about the untamed power that can rush through the Ruby Mountains.

Ruby Mountains Hike at a Glance

• Location: Lamoille Canyon (approx. 25 miles from Elko, NV)

• Trail Type: Moderate, maintain trail with stream crossings and portions of gravel trail.

• Hike Distance: 5.62 miles (including walk up from road closure point)

• Elevation Gain: 1,194 feet of elevation gain.

• Geology: A classic U-shaped glacial valley formed by the Lamoille Glaciers.

• Key Sights: Dollar Lakes & Lamoille Lake (glacial tarns)

• Fun Fact: The Ruby Mountains range is named after the garnets found here, which early settlers mistook for rubies.

• Wildlife: Lamoille Lake is a sanctuary for the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, Nevada’s official state fish.

The Ascent: Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail

We eventually reached the final bit of pavement we were able to drive as construction and paving projects had the road to the trail heads closed, which meant it was time to park in a gravel pull out and continue the remaining mile up the road on foot until we reached the trail head.  

For the next three miles, altitude and elevation gain weren’t the only things taking my breath away as we traversed the Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail. Breathtaking landscape, lush greenery and forest canopies surrounded us at every turn and rocky mountain faces stretched upward ahead of us with several stream crossings along the trail until we finally reached a plateau in elevation upon reaching the Dollar Lakes. This string of three alpine lakes connected by snow-runoff-fed streams was jaw dropping. 

These perfectly placed bowl-shaped pools, known as glacial tarns, catch the crystal-clear snowmelt from the mountains above. Carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago, hiking along the shorelines you realize that this isn’t just a beautiful landscape but the remaining fingerprint of the last Ice Age. 

Continuing a short distance beyond the three small lakes, we arrived at our main destination of Lamoille Lake (also a glacial tarn), where we stopped for lunch with even more stunning views. Setting up a picnic lunch we watched the water ripple along the surface from the breeze. Despite it being mid-summer, isolated drifts of snow gathered along the banks of the lake creating a seasonal contrast that captured the serenity that these kind of hikes always promise.

Sitting against the rocks taking in the sights and sounds of chirping birds and the breeze brushing through bushes, there was no doubt that this was a place where the air felt thinner but the world felt much more vivid.

The Return via Lamoille Stock Trail

At this point, the trail continues upward another 35+ miles to even more isolated lakes and mountain peaks but as this was part of a larger Nevada road trip for us, we had only a single day to hike this portion of Nevada, and we took the Lamoille Stock Trail to loop back toward the trailhead. The return hike gave a varied landscape as we descended the mountainside through fields of wildflowers and sweeping views of the canyon below. With even more stream crossings in this direction we passed a number of other groups looking to enjoy the Ruby Mountains. We passed fellow hikers, a group of Boy Scouts setting up tents for a night of camping, two groups were hiking up with collapsible fishing poles, it was a beautiful collection of nature-loving people all looking to explore, enjoy and appreciate what this beautiful landscape had to offer. 

After seeing these glacial lakes in person, and hiking the trail that leads through the wilderness, it’s easy to see why keeping this land wild is so vital, and there is no doubt that I will be making another visit to explore even more of what the Ruby Mountains have to offer.