Photos of the Monitor Valley in Central Nevada : Gallery 1

January 16th, 2009

High Peaks of the Toquima Range

The Monitor Valley is one very, very lonely and isolated place. How lonely? Simple…the valley contains exactly ZERO towns. Zero services. And, as far as residences go…with the exception of a handful (and I do mean a handful, like two) of isolated ranches, the valley is for all purposes uninhabited.

And it isn’t like the valley is small, either. The Monitor Valley stretches all the way between Highway 50 (on the North end) down to historic town of Belmont (on the South end)…for a distance of over 60 miles! The valley also is very wide, similar to other Nevada valleys…having a width that varies between 10 to 20 miles.

As no one lives here, the Monitor Valley is essentially a wonderful place to visit to “simply get lost.” All the land is owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

Yet, despite all this, the valley is beautiful. The western side of the valley is flanked by the dominating mountains of the Toquima Range, which seem much taller when seen from the Monitor Valley – the eastern side – than when seen from the western side (where the Big Smoky Valley is located). And on the eastern side of the valley, the smaller but still beautiful mountains of the Monitor Range rise up off the valley floor.

You may also like to read the Monitor Valley Travel Log or the Monitor Valley Photoblog on this site, too.

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