The Glacier-Carved Paradise With Shimmering Alpine Lakes Is Called The Swiss Alps Of Nevada

While everyone in the American West is thronging Utah's Mighty 5 national parks, just one state over you can practically have northeastern Nevada's stunning Ruby Mountain Wilderness in the vast Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest all to yourself. Once you get there, you'll be astonished that it isn't overrun with travelers — and grateful. First-time visitors often compare these rugged granite peaks scattered with alpine lakes to the great mountain ranges of Europe. "Feels like the Alps or Pyrenees: raw, gentle, challenging, majestic," writes one Tripadvisor visitor. "Extraordinary for hiking."  The Ruby Mountains have earned their nickname as the Swiss Alps of Nevada.

These mountains get more rain than most of Nevada's desert environments, so you'll find groves of quaking aspen, rich pine forests, alpine lakes, and gushing waterfalls among glacier-carved granite valleys. The closest airport is in Salt Lake City, just under 200 miles away, and it's 350 miles to Reno. But the nearest town with services is the delightfully authentic cowboy town of Elko, just 22 miles west. Still, few travelers crossing the state on Highway 80 take the time to stop.

This is a hiker's paradise spring through fall, with 300 miles of trails, although snow may make higher elevations impassable into July. In winter, it's a wonderland with a uniquely posh and exclusive claim to fame.

Although there are no ski-lift resorts in the Ruby Mountain Wilderness, it's home to what Outside magazine named it one of the top 10 heli-skiing destinations in America. Heli-skiing is the extreme sport version of downhill skiing where, instead of providing a chair lift up the mountain, a resort operator ferries you to the top of a remote ski run via helicopter, so that you can bomb down otherwise inaccessible mountainsides through virgin pow. The 10-room lodge and whirlybird operated by Ruby Mountains Heliskiing Experience is a swanky experience for the well-heeled. If you're more down-to-earth, there are plenty of beginner and budget-friendly ways to access winter trails in the area, too. If you're a snowshoe-curious neophyte, the BLM District Office in Elko operates beginner-friendly snowshoeing treks, and even provides loaner gear for free.

But if you're traveling through in any season other than winter, the best way to get to know the Ruby Mountains is to slow down and take a 12-mile drive to nowhere. The winding, narrow Lemoille Canyon Scenic Byway  serves as the gateway to the Rubies, and even if you never get out of the car, it's a stunner. 

"This is absolutely the most beautiful drive I've ever taken. We've been to Alaska and this is a close rival," writes one of many Tripadvisor reviewers to find this hidden gem one of nature's greatest masterpieces. You'll wind through a glacial canyon, past waterfalls, trailheads, campgrounds, and picnic areas. It dead ends after 12.5 miles, at 8,800 feet elevation. If you're planning to backpack the Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail, this is where you'll leave a car for a one-way shuttle.

The Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail is 36-40 miles (depending on the source or start point) of some of the most gorgeous mountain scenery you will ever see. But you'll earn every breathtaking vista via lung-searing, knee-busting effort. Backpackers refer to this trail as a rollercoaster, because you're constantly climbing up and down mountain passes, with almost 10,000 feet of elevation gain over the journey. Ten of the 26 peaks in this range are above 10,000 feet in this mountain range, and the trail crosses saddles between them, above treeline, where you'll encounter trailside snow even into August. Making this a four or five day trek with lots of breaks can help ease the pain, but there is one 14-mile stretch with no campsites and no water, which hikers call "the big day," that makes this a trek for experienced backpackers.

Along the way you'll see mule deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, wild turkeys, marmots, beavers, and gopher-like picas. Mountain lions are seldom sighted, and bears were hunted out of the region 100 years ago by ranchers, although rare sightings have been reported recently. You won't need bear spray on this trek, but you will need to douse yourself with permethrin, as the American Dog Tick found here in abundance don't carry Lyme disease but do carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

If peak bagging is your style, you can make a different, overnight hike to tackle Ruby Dome, the tallest in the range, with an overnight stop at Griswold Lake. This is a tough, steep hike with a lot of scrambling toward the end, but you can reward yourself with a dip in the lake (pictured at top), a glacial tarn nestled in a granite cirque carved out by a glacier.