Echo Canyon State Park
Summer 2024
Bite-size park in southeastern Nevada is your personal Great Basin paradise.
Echo Canyon State Park might be one of Nevada’s best-kept secrets with its glittering waterfront, scenic hikes, and modern guest facilities.
From sunbathers to weekend warriors, Echo Canyon’s 70-acre reservoir offers something for everyone. Boaters may use the ramp (when water levels are high) but are also welcome to launch from the shore. Anglers will encounter a good population of rainbow trout stocked by the Nevada Division of Wildlife (always keep your Nevada fishing license handy whether fishing in the water or on shore).
Around the park, wildlife lovers and birdwatchers have plenty to keep them busy. Expect a diverse crowd of waterfowl and 
shorebirds on the waterfront, including trumpeter swans. You’ll spot deer and raptors in the surrounding meadows, and the canyon offers a riparian habitat flush with critters, cottonwoods, and cattails.
In addition to its bounty of natural resources, Echo Canyon State Park boasts services for every style of camper. 
The lower campground includes 33 sites, each with a gazebo, grill, drinking water pump, and easy access to flush restrooms. The RV campground has 20 full hookup sites—and a commanding view of Dry Valley—with access to flush toilets and an RV dump station.
The park includes an outdoor theater, a group picnic area for up to 70 people, and excellent trails. We recommend taking the Ash Canyon trail, a winding 2.5-mile loop along the valley rim that ends with a dramatic canyon view.
COMPASS POINTERS
En route to the park, you’ll become acquainted with some of Nevada’s best farmland, where rolling hills, sleepy cattle, and green alfalfa fields slowly pass by on a winding country backroad.
If arriving from the south, consider taking Delmue Ranch Road, accessed via the town of Panaca. This quiet farming community—founded in the 1860s by Mormon settlers—is a great place to stretch your legs or stock up on supplies at the Panaca Market. While in town, stop by Dream House Growers and Health, a boutique shop that offers everything from apparel to baked goods and local produce. If you decide that Panaca is where you’d like to bed down for a day or two—after all, Cathedral Gorge State Park is just a 7-minute drive away—you’ll find excellent accommodations at the Pine Tree Inn.
If arriving from the north, stop in Pioche for supplies and a good meal at the Historic Silver Café. Pioche is a well-preserved relic of the Wild West. It’s also packed with history from its rowdy boomtown years, which visitors can witness firsthand at Boot Hill Cemetery and the Million Dollar Courthouse. If you stay the night, check out the Overland Hotel & Saloon for a themed room and an evening at a classic Sagebrush Saloon.
