The Backyard Traveler: Virginia City's best hikes revealed in new book

Joe Curtis knows a lot about Virginia City. Curtis is the proprietor of Virginia City's Mark Twain Bookstore and a gifted local historian who has done considerable research on the Comstock.

In fact, Curtis recently wrote and self-published a tour booklet entitled "Walkers and Hikers Guide to Virginia City and the Comstock Area." The 24-page booklet describes nine walks and hikes that lead to many of the Comstock's most scenic and historic sites.

Curtis, who has a nice, humorous writing style, includes detailed maps of all of the hikes and walks.

The book begins with a brief historical overview of Virginia City, then quickly moves into the hikes and walks. Hike One leads to Cedar Hill, a prominent peak of 7,159 feet, which rises north of Virginia City.

Curtis offers a short history of Cedar Hill-named in the 1860s by miners because of the cedars (junipers) that grew on its slopes-and provides a detailed description of what you'll see along the way. The 3.2 mile trail begins behind Callahan's Brickyard Restaurant at the north end of A Street.

He notes that the 2 1/2 hour walk passes a number of tailing piles (mounds of dirt removed from a mine shaft) as well as "glory holes" (mine shafts) before reaching the top of the hill. Once there, you're treated to a splendid view of Virginia City.

Hike Two is longer-10.8 miles round trip-and winds up Ophir Grade Road to Five Mile Reservoir. This trek begins on an 1860s-era toll road that was originally known as the Washoe City-Virginia City Toll Road-and affords spectacular panoramas of Carson City and the Carson Valley (to the south).

Ever the historian, Curtis points out that the toll road was once the main route used to connect Virginia City to the mills in Washoe Valley and that among those who traveled it was writer Mark Twain.

Hike Three begins on the same route as the second (Ophir Grade Road) but leads eight miles to the top of Mount Davidson, the 7,864-foot peak that towers over Virginia City and is the tallest point in the Virginia Range.

A walk of a different type is Hike Five, which loops 3.5 miles through downtown Virginia City on C Street. Along the way, you'll pass St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church (built in 1877) as well as the Fourth Ward School (erected in 1876), Piper's Opera House (1885), and the Taylor Street neighborhood, once home to several of the Comstock's mining millionaires.

Hike Seven is a 3.5 mile journey from the Gold Hill Hotel to American Flat and back. The path slips around the sites of several historic mines (the Kentuck, Crown Point, and Belcher) and the Gold Hill Cemetery, which was established in 1859.

The trail drops down to American Flat, a Comstock mining community that was founded in 1864. Large concrete ruins of a cyanide mill built in 1921-not open to the public-are just about all that remain of the town.

One of the most intriguing hikes is Hike Nine, which is a short, two-mile loop leading to Virginia City's often overlooked Hebrew Cemetery.

This trail begins at the more well known Silver Terrace Cemetery at the north end of Virginia City (end of E Street) and climbs past several historic landmarks including the remains of the Sierra Nevada Mine and mill and the site of the Mexican and Ophir mines.

According to Curtis' research, the picturesque Eureka Hebrew Cemetery was established in the mid-1860s and was the final resting place for many of the Comstock's most prominent Jewish residents.

From the cemetery the trail continues into 7 Mile Canyon, home to many wild horses, before returning to the Silver Terrace Cemetery (which actually encompasses 11 separate cemeteries) parking lot.

"The Walkers and Hikers Guide to Virginia City and the Comstock Area" has a cost of $2.95 and is only available at Mark Twain Bookstore, 111 South C Street, Virginia City. For more information call (775) 847-0454 - and don't forget to say hello to Joe Curtis.

Richard Moreno is the author of "The Backyard Traveler," "The Backyard Traveler Returns," and "The Roadside History of Nevada" which are available at local bookstores.