Carson City sits at the foot of the Carson Range, half an hour from the East Shore down Spooner Summit or the Mt. Rose Highway. It's small, friendly and stuffed with real history: this is where Comstock silver became U.S. coinage, where the V&T Railroad hauled millionaires up the hill, and where Nevada still governs from a sandstone Capitol you can walk right into.
Half a day covers the highlights, which makes it an easy pairing with Virginia City up the grade —” the classic "history loop" from the lake.
Inside the 1870 Carson City Mint —” source of the coveted "CC" mint-mark coins struck from Comstock silver until 1893. Walk the recreated underground mine, and on coin-press demonstration days you can watch the original Coin Press No. 1 strike commemorative medallions.
The silver-domed 1871 sandstone Capitol anchors a shady downtown plaza —” self-guided tours on weekdays, and the second-oldest capitol west of the Mississippi still in use.
A marked walking route through the west-side historic district's Victorian mansions and churches —” follow the sidewalk medallions past the homes of mining magnates and governors.
Beautifully restored Virginia & Truckee locomotives and rolling stock —” and in season, the revived V&T Railway runs excursion trains from Carson's Eastgate Depot up to Virginia City and back.
Virginia City —” the boomtown that built the mint —” is 25 minutes up NV-341 from Carson.
Virginia City guide