The Desatoya Mountains are located in central Nevada in the western United States, approximately 117 miles east of Reno by road. The range runs in a southwest-northeasterly direction along the border of Churchill and Lander counties, reaching a maximum elevation of 9978 ft (3041 m) at Desatoya Peak near Rock Creek Canyon.

Get there Quick

California Trail

Geography

The range is separated from the Paradise Range in the south by Burnt Cabin Summit at the Nye County line, near the sites of Chalk Wells and Phonolite, and from the New Pass Range in the north by New Pass along U.S. Route 50. It is traversed by three routes:

Trans mountain navigation

History

The Desatoya Mountains set the backdrop for both the Cold Springs and Smith Creek Pony Express stations; the Cold Springs Pony Express Station and the Pony Express National Historic Trail lie at the western edge of the range, whereas the Smith Creek Pony Express Station is situated at the eastern base on the edge of Smith Creek Valley.

The etymology of the name Desatoya

The precise morphology and etymology of the name Desatoya is unclear: whereas ...'toya' derives from the Shoshone word toyap (mountain), 'desa'... has been multifariously interpreted as 'short, low,' 'big-black,' and 'cold.' Early documents record the range's name variously as the Lookout Range or the Sedaye Mountains, sedaye purportedly being an Indian word meaning 'no good.'