Rainbow Canyon State Park
Whenever I travel, I always like to find a good travel book to read (over and over) while planning the trip. Through the years, I've found good luck with the Moon publications, which have decent writing, understandable maps, and adequate pictures. Since I started my planning while COVID was still such a major threat, I discovered that travel books seem to have become a thing of the past, and the Moon edition "Nevada" (by Scott Smith) was about the only actual BOOK available. Don't get me wrong, I also spend a lot of time on the travel websites, particularly TripAdvisor. But laying in bed late at night reading about Death Valley or Great Basin is one of my favorite parts of travelling.
The Moon book for Nevada was a bit dated (2018), but still full of useful information. (Special shoutout also to Nevada Magazine, with their timely publication!) The parts about Caliente particularly appealed to me, because of the scope and variety of interesting areas that were a short distance away. The first destination on my list was Rainbow Canyon Scenic Drive, which started literally about 2 blocks south of our hotel! It was described as a 21-mile artist's palette of mineral-stained cliffs on either side of the road, ending at the Elgin Schoolhouse, the last remains on an old ghost town.
The Moon book describes how colorful this drive is, including the multiple railroad trestles you'll pass under--the route is still used today by the Union Pacific Railroad. There are also flood zones (driving through creeks that cross the road at a surprisingly high level!), random big ranches with cattle, and never-ending colorful canyon walls. AND a family of quail that suddenly decided they needed to cross the road; thank goodness Tom is quick on the brakes, as some of the baby chicks couldn't make up their minds whether to cross or to run back.
At the stopping point of the drive, you find the Elgin Schoolhouse, which operated for free for local school children grades one through eight from 1922 to 1967. Descendants of the builder restored the school a few years ago and preserved it with original furnishings and period items. Unfortunately for us, it can be visited only by appointment (which we didn't realize).
We re-traced our route to exit Rainbow Canyon, and the cliffs always were amazing. There were also unusual rock formations all over the area. I would have a good time exploring these areas if I lived in Caliente, I think.
On the way out, we decided to stop by the Kershaw-Ryan State Park, which was located on a side road right after we entered the Rainbow Canyon Drive. It was a bit of a surprise in terms of a state park!