Recreation & Open Space

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department opened three new segments of trail following an Oct. 30 ribbon cutting. These fun new trails are part of a network of non-motorized paths that connect residents with almost 5,000 acres of Carson City Parks and Open Space within the Carson River/Prison Hill area. Future plans include completing a multi-use path around Prison Hill.

National Public Lands Day 2020 is themed “more ways to connect to nature” and is celebrated this Saturday, Sept. 26. This is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space invites you to volunteer for a trail workday.

The Waterfall Trail in Kings Canyon is currently undergoing maintenance. Trail access will be limited Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Oct. 1. Users are asked to please observe all cautionary signage.

The gate on Ash Canyon Road, located at the trailhead to the Ash to Kings Trail in Ash Canyon, is now open, Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space announced Monday.

In response to Governor Sisolak’s Directive 016, relaxing restrictions on some outdoor recreation activities is allowed starting today, if participants recreate safely and in a manner that prevents the spread of COVID-19.

Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department will be reopening the following facilities with restrictions to ensure the health and safety of staff and participants. If you do not feel well, please stay home.

Outdoor tennis and pickleball courts-reopening May 1

In light of current directives from the Governor related to health concerns, many facilities are closed, leaving few options for exercise and recreation. The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department reports that an unprecedented number of people are utilizing Carson City’s more than 8,000 acres of parks, trails and open space. Trailhead parking in some locations is over capacity.

The Waterfall trailhead on Kings Canyon Road is experiencing especially large numbers of visitors, resulting in traffic congestion and parking related issues.

Heading into Monday and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday we're looking at cloudy skies with a daytime high around 50 degrees. City, state and federal offices are closed as are schools. Friends of the Carson City Library's Browser's Book Store at 711 East Washington St., is open from noon to 5 p.m. Activities around the capital city include a canyon area cleanup hosted by Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space, a luncheon highlighting the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, swing dance lessons and more. Read on for details.

Carson City Parks, Recreation, Open Space invites you to give back to your community on this year’s MLK Day of Service!

Recently, the department has found numerous large and detrimental dumpsites in the canyons near East Silver Saddle Ranch.

This Friday through Sunday, Dec. 13-15, the first Homestead Holidays at Silver Saddle Ranch, hosted by the Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department, will be bringing a free family event to the community with some good old-fashioned Christmas charm.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department will host an open house for the Carson River Trails Phase II Project.

The project is funded by a grant from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA), which will construct a non-motorized multi-use pathway on the east side of Prison Hill, through Silver Saddle Ranch, and along the Carson River through Buzzy’s Ranch connecting to Riverview Park.

Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space invites the community to the inaugural Homestead Holidays event at Silver Saddle Ranch, Dec. 13-15, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night. Homestead Holidays is intended to be an old-fashioned holiday celebration with handcrafted decorations, holiday lights ornamenting historic ranch buildings, and family activities for all ages.

While it isn't quite Christmas-weather yet, I'm assuming at some point it will get cold and we can finally get into the upcoming holiday spirit! When that time comes, there are a ton of great Santa-related events going on in Carson City for you and the little ones to enjoy.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department is pleased to announce the Empire Ranch Trail between Riverview Park and Morgan Mill has been reopened.

Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space and the Carson City Library invite the community to join us for our 3rd annual Carson City BOOnanza this Tuesday, Oct. 29.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department, with the Pine Nut Mountains Trails Association and the Nevada Off-Highway Vehicle Commission, is sponsoring a volunteer Clean-Up Day at the Prison Hill Recreation Area in the OHV Area. The public is invited to come out and help.

Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space is pleased to announce our 3rd Annual BOO-nanza Halloween event on Tuesday, October 29th.

Last year, approximately 1000 children participated and we expect a bigger crowd this year. In an effort to create a safe and family friendly Halloween experience, Carson City Park, Recreation & Open Space has partnered with the Carson City Library. The Community Center will be opened for trick or treating, haunted house, and outdoor carnival.

The 2019 Carson City Fair finished its third year on the last Sunday in July with a record number of participants, exhibits and spectators. The Fair’s claim to fame is a focus on local youth livestock shows and traditional exhibits. This year, most people didn’t miss the carnival, due to the free games provided on the grassy area.

Good morning Carson City! It's going to be a beautiful day with the high in the mid 70s, and we have a ton of great activities and events in our wonderful capitol city today! Check below to see what's happening through the weekend.

Saturday, August 10

Heading into the weekend, there’s a bevy of activities around the Carson City region to help the next three days breeze by, including the Jazz and Beyond Music Festival, Carson City Library’s End of Summer Learning Challenge, history talks at Mormon Station Park, train rides in Virginia City, a sushi cooking class at Sierra Chef on Sunday and more!

Midweek, here we come! Heading into Wednesday, July 17, 2019 and we're looking at another sunshine-filled day full of activities including Trails 4 Tails at Riverview Park, an open house at Carson City's Foreman-Roberts House Museum, Wheeled Food Wednesday at the Brewery Arts Center with a showing of "Monster's University" to follow and more. Enjoy the day.

Good times, sunny skies, activities and more are planned around the Carson City area as we head into Thursday, July 11. Hikes, bike rides, art, food trucks at Mills Park, a Carson City CASA information night, a sentimental journey along Highway 395 presentation and more are lined up for the day. Enjoy

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space department is excited to announce our Adopt-A-Park program!

As part of our Adopt-A-Park program, we have five of our smaller parks available for adoption.

These parks will be open to families, individuals and organizations to adopt.

Ross Gold Park is one of the oldest parks within the City’s park system and is located at 280 Appion Way. As part of the efforts to reinvest in aging park infrastructure, the City released a survey in April, 2019 to get the community’s input on changes to the park’s master plan.

June 17th kicks off Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space’s first annual Pollinator Week! Come out and celebrate pollinators and what they do for the environment at one or all of the many interpretive programs for the week.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony held on Friday, quite a number of bees were seen buzzing around the new bee hotel soon to choose their future accommodation.

Released behind the Carson Tahoe Health Cancer Center at the trailhead of the one-mile long Serenity Trail on Thursday, 150 Mason bees couldn’t wait to be freed from their boxes by their foster mother, Debra Conrad, a member of the class who kept the bees until they could be released.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space in partnership with the Carson City Weed Coalition would like to invite the public to join us on June 8th, 2019 from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. to pull a variety of invasive plants, including: musk thistle, poison hemlock and bull thistle.

The latest buzz: Don’t miss our bee hotel unveiling Friday, June 7. This project is a collaboration between the Carson City Chamber leadership class, Carson Tahoe Health, Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space, Southwest Gas, Arizona Pipeline, and The Greenhouse Project.

Good morning Carson City and happy Saturday! It’s going to be another grey day, with a high of 64 and a low of 44. But hey, it could be freezing, or things could be on fire, so I won’t complain! On the docket today we’ve got day two of the Rib Fest, a Virginia City train tour, museum activities, a heroes parade, and more. Check below to see the schedule for the rest of Memorial Weekend, and stay warm!

As we head into a jam-packed Memorial Day weekend, activities and events around Carson City on Friday will help set the mood for what promises to be a tremendous few days ahead. Festivities include the opening day of the Rockin’ Rib Fest at Carson City's Casino Fandango, the planting of American flags on the graves of our fallen veterans at Lone Mountain Cemetery, a weekly open mic night at A to Zen, laughs at the Carson Comedy Club, live music and more.

Here’s an events lineup of what's happening around the Carson City region for the 2019 Memorial Day weekend. More events will be added as information becomes available.

Friday, May 24