Looking for more fun to add to your To-Do List?
Guided by our core tenets of conservation, education, and responsible recreation, we offer a wide array of both free and ticketed events, sure to quench the thirsts of all who visit the Black Rock Desert and surrounding public lands. Some of these events include:
Site-Stewardship and Voluntourism Opportunities
Guided Hikes
Cultural Heritage Tours
Educational Programs
Off-Road Guided Expeditions
E-Bike Tours and Rentals
Overnight Community Camp-Outs
**And if you’re unable to make the drive yourself, check out our Rideshare form to see what carpooling opportunities there might be.
Upcoming Events:
Visitor Center Maintenance
Help us get our visitor center ready for the busy season! This space is the heart of our operations, it's the starting point for our tours, the hub for campout preparations, and the place where many good memories are made with our members and volunteers. Join us as we tidy up, make repairs, and get everything in top shape for another great season ahead. Sign up HERE
Stewardship Project
Our site stewardship projects can take place in a variety of locations, including microplayas, hot springs, dunes, and the vast playa. Activities may involve picking up trash, removing burn scars, and cleaning or restoring hot springs. While we haven’t chosen a specific site yet, we plan to step in and help wherever it’s needed as visitors leave behind impacts on the land. Sign up HERE
Stewardship Project
Our stewardship projects can take place in a variety of locations, including microplayas, hot springs, dunes, and the vast playa. Activities may involve picking up trash, removing burn scars, and cleaning or restoring hot springs. While we haven’t chosen a specific site yet, we plan to step in and help wherever it’s needed as visitors leave behind impacts on the land. Location will be posted at a later date. Sign up HERE If you have any questions email info@blackrockdesert.org
Black Rock Rendezvous Stewardship Project
Join us for our Black Rock Rendezvous conservation project! Black Rock Rendezvous is our annual campout to celebrate and learn about this remarkable desert landscape. On Sunday we will head out from our playa base camp and take part in hands on stewardship activities. Our site projects may take place in a variety of locations, including microplayas, hot springs, dunes, and the vast open playa. Activities may include picking up trash, removing burn scars, and cleaning or restoring hot springs. While we haven’t selected a specific site yet, we plan to assist wherever it’s needed to help protect and preserve this desert for all who visit. Sign up HERE Any questions email info@blackrockdesert.org
National Public Trails Day - Stevens Camp
June 6–7 National Public Trails Day: Join us at Stevens Camp for a weekend of trail maintenance along the Upper High Rock Canyon trail once traveled by emigrants in the 1800! We will also be working to upkeep the public cabin for visitors passing through the area. Group dinners will be provided. Sign up HERE
Hot Spring Stewardship Project
Join us for our Hot Springs Conservation Event - We will be visiting Black Rock Hot Springs and Double Hot Springs to pick up trash and help maintain these special desert sites. Along the way we will learn about their cultural significance to both the Native Paiute people and to the emigrants who traveled through the area in the 1800s. This is a great opportunity to explore the Black Rock and take part in protecting the unique natural and historical heritage. Sign up HERE
Fourth of Juplaya Stewardship Project
Join our Fourth of Juplaya celebration! Our site stewardship projects can take place in a variety of locations, including microplayas, hot springs, dunes, and the vast playa. Activities may involve picking up trash, removing burn scars, and cleaning or restoring hot springs. While we haven’t chosen a specific site yet, we plan to step in and help wherever it’s needed as visitors leave behind impacts on the land.
Perseid Meteor Shower Stewardship Project
Friends of Black Rock will be hosting a Perseid Meteor Shower Campout this weekend - We will start this conservatioin project from our playa base camp. We will be visiting Black Rock Hot Springs and Double Hot Springs to pick up trash and help maintain these special desert sites. Along the way we will learn about their cultural significance to both the Native Paiute people and to the emigrants who traveled through the area in the 1800s. This is a great opportunity to explore the Black Rock and take part in protecting the unique natural and historical heritage. Sign up HERE
National Public Lands Day
Every year we head out to Soldier Meadows for National Public Lands Day to take part in conservation in this unique region. Scattered with hot springs and home to the one of a kind Desert dace, a rare fish that thrives in the hot waters of these springs. Soldier Meadows is a special place within the Black Rock Desert to explore and protect. While our exact projects haven’t been chosen yet past efforts have included cabin maintenance, fence removal, and monitoring creeks and hot springs for the Desert dace species. Join us for this campout and help care for one of Nevada’s most remarkable desert ecosystems! Sign up HERE
Applegate Lassen Experience
Spend three days crossing Nevada’s Black Rock Desert NCA alongside local experts and scientists. Hike through the lush folds of Stevens Camp canyon, trace wagon ruts along the Lassen-Applegate Trail, and descend into the dramatic cliffs of High Rock Canyon for a night under one of the darkest skies in the United States.
Black Rock Renezvous
Join Friends of Black Rock, our partners at the BLM and Friends of Nevada Wilderness on the Black Rock Desert playa for our annual event featuring camping, restoration, exploration, celebration and education! This is a Leave No Trace Camping Event taking place on the Black Rock Desert Playa during Memorial Day Weekend
Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2025
Wild and Scenic Film Festival, our premier annual fundraising event, is here! Join us for a program packed full of thought-provoking, funny, entertaining, and informative films centered around the environment, wildlife, and the enduring human spirit.
Enjoy films, beverages, raffle and silent auction items in one of Reno's most beautiful indoor venues, The Whitney Peak Hotel.
This event is our premier annual fundraiser and membership drive. All proceeds from this event will help support The Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area through Friends of Black Rock-High Rock's stewardship, education, and outdoor recreational programs.
More than a film festival, Wild and Scenic is a great place to meet diverse, yet like-minded people. Folks who attend WSFF tend to be outdoor-oriented and care about the environment, sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism, and public lands. All of which have never been more relevant, nor more important. So purchase your ticket today, as space is limited!
Doors open at 5:30pm and the film program begins at 6:30pm. Arrive early to grab a drink at the no host bar, network, view the silent auction items, and stop by the vendor tables.
*** If you are interested in being a sponsor for this event, please contact us at info@blackrockdesert.org ***
Fly Ranch Nature Walk (11/16)
Fall 2024 Fly Ranch Nature Walks
Experience the beauty of Fly Ranch and the Black Rock Desert region.
Friends of Black Rock-High Rock offers this roughly 3-hour Nature Walk in partnership with the Burning Man Project. Explore two distinct portions of the stunning 3,800-acre property. To the south, we will visit an area of the ranch where Burning Man art can be seen and you'll learn about the area and land use. To the north, we visit wetlands, see wildlife, and several geothermal wonders. There are three geysers on the property including the stunning Fly Geyser, a unique and iconic geothermal geyser that constantly sprays, depositing minerals, and enabling the growth of multi-colored algae on its surrounding natural terraces.
The walks are an immersive experience in a changing and dynamic environment. It is not uncommon to see wild horses, jackrabbits, coyotes and other wildlife.
Fly Ranch Nature Walk (11/9)
Fall 2024 Fly Ranch Nature Walks
Experience the beauty of Fly Ranch and the Black Rock Desert region.
Friends of Black Rock-High Rock offers this roughly 3-hour Nature Walk in partnership with the Burning Man Project. Explore two distinct portions of the stunning 3,800-acre property. To the south, we will visit an area of the ranch where Burning Man art can be seen and you'll learn about the area and land use. To the north, we visit wetlands, see wildlife, and several geothermal wonders. There are three geysers on the property including the stunning Fly Geyser, a unique and iconic geothermal geyser that constantly sprays, depositing minerals, and enabling the growth of multi-colored algae on its surrounding natural terraces.
The walks are an immersive experience in a changing and dynamic environment. It is not uncommon to see wild horses, jackrabbits, coyotes and other wildlife.
Fly Ranch Campout Event
Friends of Black Rock, in partnership with Fly Ranch, is excited to announce an exciting new opportunity to see Fly Geyser like never before: at night! Due to quite a bit of interest from nighttime and astro-photographers, as well as folks who would appreciate the cooler temperatures and the opportunity to camp overnight, we are offering up to 15 people the chance to do just that! Activities will include a golden-hour Nature Walk as the sun sets behind the Granite Mountains, a Dark-Sky presentation, ample time to take night-time photographs and timelapses, with camping available at nearby Hualapai Flat (the site of the 1997 Burning Man). Tickets are limited so act fast!
Mystery, Murder, and Misery Vehicle Tour
Join Friends of Black Rock, alongside a knowledgeable guide, for a riveting vehicle tour of the most mysterious and infamous regions in the Black Rock National Conservation Area. Points of interest include: the Black Rock Desert Playa, the Calico Mountain Wilderness, Double-Hot Hot Springs, the Lassen-Clapper Murder Site, Casey Springs, Black Rock Point, and learn all the grisly stories associated with them.
To purchase tickets, click here.
Site Stewardship Project: Little High Rock Hilton
Join Friends of Black Rock-High Rock for this rewarding opportunity to improve our public lands through a site-stewardship project at the Little High Rock Hilton, en route to High Rock Canyon. We’ll be meeting up with some members of Rides With Friends, a community bike-packing group to assist in our cleanup efforts.
We will start to gather at the FBRHR Visitor Center at 320 Main Street in Gerlach at 10:00am on Sunday, April 21st. At 10:30, we will caravan together to the stewardship site, where we'll kick things off at 12:00pm and remain until the project wraps up around 3:00pm. Pack a lunch and stick around afterwards for an onsite meal at the “Hilton.”
Rides with Friends #3: Potholes and High Rocks
Come Ride Potholes and High Rocks October 5-6. This out and back route highlights some key spots on the Applegate Emigrant Trail in the Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (NCA). We will ride into the NCA's canyonlands and enter the mouth of Fly Canyon to explore the oddities of the Potholes. From there we will climb High Rock Canyon, take in its unmatched natural beauty, as well as check out such features as Post Office Cave and the Garage before exiting mid-canyon to Bernards Corrals to camp.
The next day we will retrace our path but join Friends of Black Rock High Rock at the mouth of Little High Rock Canyon for a clean-up stewardship project of this high impact area. We will be rewarded with snacks and a ton of information about the area. This ride is an ideal primer to Exploring the NCA's canyonlands by bike.
Nitty-Gritty: Meet at 10 am, Oct. 5 at the start of the ride, https://maps.app.goo.gl/WzpPMDQrc4xkAtsk8, this is 41 miles past Gerlach, about a 1 hour drive through beautiful country. Group Lead, Kurstin, will be on a mountain bike with 2.8" wide tires. The terrain through High Rock Canyon is challenging. And wet! Kurstin recommends sandals. Be prepared for water crossings. As a Crown Jewel Ride expect your head will be on a swivel. There will be constant opportunities for photos.
Ride will loop back to the beginning by 4 pm Sunday, Oct. 6.