Kit Carson Trail

Jill's Journal: The best way to see Carson City, bar none, is to take the Kit Carson Trail, a 2 1/2-mile walking path through about 60 landmarks in Carson City’s residential district. The great thing is that it gets a visitor away from the main drag of casinos and gives a quiet glimpse of a stately past.

Much like Boston’s Freedom Trail, the Kit Carson Trail is clearly marked by a blue line. Yes, indeed, it’s just like Boston…the history is merely 250 years fresher and not quite as…impactful. :)

Highlights include the First Presbyterian Church. Parts of this church date back to early 1864, before Nevada was a state. It’s the oldest church building still in service in Nevada. Orion Clemens, Mark Twain’s brother and Secretary of the Nevada Territory, attended here. Twain himself donated the proceeds of one of his works toward the church’s construction.

This house is billed as Nevada’s first governor’s mansion. Actually, it was the territorial governor, James W. Nye, who lived here.

Here’s the actual Governor’s Mansion. It was completed in 1909. The Halloween and fall spirit appears to be alive and well.

The aforementioned Orion Clemons lived here with his wife. Brother Mark Twain was a frequent guest and stayed here for a lengthy time in 1864.

So many of the old homes surprised us with their charming touches. I say they surprised us because we honestly didn’t expect Carson City to have much charm, but this old section really, really does.

A huge highlight for the girls was witnessing a marching band practice. We repeatedly saw and heard this band as we followed the trail. The girls thought it was a parade.

The Capitol, which we recently visited, is striking from across the street. The Pony Express office was located not far from here. It took a mere nine days for correspondence from St. Joseph, Missouri, to arrive here and just under 29 hours for Pony Express riders to make it to Carson City from San Francisco. Both the first eastbound and westbound rides left on April 3, 1860.

We’re not quite done with our time in Carson City yet, but the Kit Carson Trail singlehandedly gave us an appreciation for Nevada’s capital city we wouldn’t have otherwise had.