Driving through Nevada, you may be miles from nowhere, but you are never far from an interesting rock, the shoreline of an ice age lake, or an active or historic mine. The Silver State has some of the most diverse geology in the United States, and much of it lies in plain sight thanks to the arid climate of the Great Basin. Geologic forces continue to shape Nevada, stretching it apart and bringing magma near the surface. Earthquakes periodically rock its lonely outposts, creating some of the biggest fault scarps in the world. With the help of Roadside Geology of Nevada, you can appreciate geologic features along more than thirty of Nevada's highways.
Some of Nevada's Geologic Highlights
Great Basin National Park's limestone caverns
Virginia City and the Comstock Lode
Tule Springs Fossil Beds
Valley of Fire's bright red rock
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park's fossil reptiles
Lake Tahoe's granitic eastern shore
Pyramid Lake's tufa towers
Ruby Mountains' glacially carved Lamoille Canyon
Red Rock Canyon's Jurassic sandstone
Alamo's extraterrestrial impact
Virgin Valley's fossils and opal
Cathedral Gorge's lakebed badlands
Frenchman Mountain's Great Unconformity
Hoover Dam's tough tuff