Belmont

Overview

Belmont is an historic community located 45mi/72km north of Tonopah by paved road.  It is at an elevation of 7400′/2555m in the hills separating the Ralston Valley on the south from the Monitor Valley on the north.  Belmont Courthouse State Historic Park is the noted attraction.  Yet, the entire town maintains an historic setting as exemplified by the Belmont Historic District moniker.  After all, Belmont was the seat of Nye County until 1905, reaching a maximum population in the 15,000 range.  Today the year-round population maintains around 10 residents, increasing to 15-30 residents in summer when gift shops are open.

For birding/wildlife viewing trips, fill-up with gasoline in Tonopah before heading for Belmont.  For accommodations, the historic Belmont Inn Bed & Breakfast is open year-round.  This B&B has five uniquely decorated rooms, a ten-bed bunkhouse, a miner’s cabin, and a saloon.  Don’t just show up, however.  Reserve rooms ahead of time. Self-contained camping is available at BLM’s nearby Belmont Campground or at the Barley Creek Trailhead 12mi/19km distant.  More developed is the Forest Service Pine Creek Campground located 20mi/32km north of Belmont.  Any of the preceding may serve as headquarters for multi-day stays for birding/wildlife watching.

A special feature of the Belmont Satellite Hub is the opportunity to enter the nearby Alta Toquima Wilderness or Table Mountain Wilderness areas for multi-day birding/wildlife viewing by guided horseback trips using the services of the Belmont Pack Station in Belmont. The pack station may be reached through the Belmont Inn.

Besides birding/wildlife viewing, local activities include cross-country skiing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and rock climbing.  There are numerous mountain trout streams just a short drive away.  A 4WD, high-clearance vehicle is helpful, and sometimes required, to use some area roads, although many are passable by 2WD vehicles in summer after stream crossings are dry or shallow and road surfaces are dry.

Birding in the area can be terrific.  A late spring/summer (June into August) visit is recommended, after birds arrive for nesting season and dirt roads beyond the paved road to Belmont are dried out from winter precipitation.  Lower elevations, including valley floors, are open earlier in spring and into fall for looking for Greater Sage-Grouse and other resident species, plus a few migrants.  Mountain areas are open in fall until first snow.

The 580,912ac/235,092ha Monitor Valley Important Bird Area includes the southern 2/3 of Monitor Valley and the corresponding west slope of the Monitor Range and east slope of the Toquima Range.  This IBA hosts one of Nevada’s most significant Greater Sage-Grouse populations with an estimated 2000 nesting pairs.  Other key species that helped this area gain official recognition as an IBA are: Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Pinyon Jay, Western Bluebird, Sage Thrasher, Black-throated Gray Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and Sage Sparrow.  Habitats and birds/wildlife of this IBA are most conveniently accessed using Barley Creek Road to Barley Creek and the trailhead for the Table Mountain Wilderness in the Monitor Range and/or the easier, graded road to Pine Creek Campground and Pine Creek A trailhead leads into Alta Toquima Wilderness and Mount Jefferson in the Toquima Range.  A guided or self-guided packhorse trip into the wilderness for a birding adventure merits careful consideration.

Belmont itself has a strip of mature riparian vegetation in the form of tall trees along the creek in front of the courthouse.  There is irrigated pasture at the pack station and a combination of Great Basin shrub and pinyon pine woodland all around.  The entrance road to Belmont Campground goes through excellent sagebrush habitat (Sage Thrasher) and the campground itself is placed among pinyon pines.  All are worth spot checks during a Belmont visit or extended stay.  Sportsman Park is always worth at least a spot check on the way to/from Belmont.

At the end of your stay in Belmont, return to Tonopah for gasoline.  If your trip is proceeding east to Ely and Great Basin National Park via US 6, you’ll find excellent birding stops along that highway.