Cathedral Gorge State Park — Attraction in Panaca

I stayed at CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK in July 2017 with my eight-year-old granddaughter. And, again with my family of nine for Thanksgiving in 2017.

This is one of Nevada’s state parks that provides electricity at the sites.

In July, we were there for three nights (Site 16) and then were gone for a night and back for two more nights (Site 14). I have the Nevada Senior Discount Pass and paid only $10 a night for electricity.

Our first three nights, July 21-23, 2017 were at Site 16 which is a pull through site with lots of shade. We had a covered picnic table and a grill. Our site was conveniently located near the trails to the day / play area. There was a small outdoor theater area with benches and screen. No activity occurred during our stay.

July 25-26 we were at site 14 --- a back-in site which had the best view as it was on the end of the loop with nothing to obstruct the view of the beautiful desert landscape. This site, like all the sites, had electricity, a covered picnic table, some small trees, and a grill. All of the sites appear to be quite level.

The park has a couple of very nice shower facilities with toilets and sinks. There is a large garbage dumpster at the entrance/exit of the park. This is located very near the self check-in area. Park Rangers rode through the park regularly and were quite friendly.

My granddaughter and I walked out onto one of the walking trails for about a mile and took lots of pictures. We walked to the nearby play/day area and played tetherball and horseshoes. On the morning we left the park, we drove across the road to where the caves are located and enjoyed exploring and taking more pictures.

I particularly enjoyed the quiet of the park. Our last two nights there we were one of 2 and 1 of four overnighters, respectively. The park and all facilities were kept clean. We had electric hookup at each site and were grateful for the electricity to run our air conditioning as the temperatures were quite hot in July.

Wi-Fi was available for purchase at $10 for 1 GB. We ate that up very quickly! I have Verizon cell service and it was available at the park.

The only thing I would change is the placement of the water faucets. Whereas there are several faucets located around the park, it would be nice if a faucet was at the very least between each site so that moving a rig was not necessary to replenish water supply when staying a few days.

For our family Thanksgiving visit we had two campsites for our two motorhomes and one tent. It was wonderful for hikes, dogs running, evening campfires and family time.

CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK is on my favorites list. I definitely will go back...

Absolutely beautiful hidden gem.

My 4 recommended options to enjoy this area:

1.) I started from the lookout point and walked all the way down to the bottom. There are quite a few stairs and some slippery areas where hard surfaces have loose sand. Now, walking back up... Think about this as you are descending the canyon. I'm 61 with a weakened heart. I make it back to the top, but I'm huffing and puffing.

2.) Start at the bottom and then hike up as far as you're comfortable doing. Then your return is all down and less strenuous. On this one, remember to save some leg strength. You'll be able to make these decisions easily once you get there.

3a.) Just get some stunning views from the lookout point at the top. A nice stop from driving if you're on a bigger drive.

3b.) Expore at the bottom. It's a cute little area with some nice (and necessary) shade. You can still get some great pictures from where the parking area is and by walking into the lower canyon.

4.) I've never been able to do this, but it's probably the best way to see the canyon walking all the way from top to bottom. If you are with a group and you have someone content to just look from the top, and look from the lower area, get dropped off at the top. That way, you can walk down all the way to the parking area at the bottom, see the whole canyon, and get picked up by another person in your group.

The hike through the canyon is not terribly far. I walked down and up in maybe 30 minutes, and that included a decent number of stops to take pictures.

Things to think about: Water Hat Possibly gloves for the hot handrails provided in a couple of spots

USE GOOD JUDGMENT - like many nature trails, there are areas where you can stray off of the path and get way, way too close to areas where you could fall and be seriously injured or worse. As I like to say, "Don't be that guy!"

If you stop and look around, then determine that it's not your cup of tea, you've invested very little time and stretched your legs.

I believe I also saw a road pointing to a camping area, but I didn't...

See pictures for visual help. They have a lot of picnic tables, volleyball court (no net when we were here, so bring one), bathrooms, covered area, BBQ, and even a Dutch oven brick style bbq. Water spicket close to covered area.

The parks department really cares about this camping/ picnic area!! They were out here in 25-35° weather grooming and doing maintenance every day.

The trails here are marked for education purposes and marked well. Please, I beg people to stay on trailways. I recommend all the trails and caves/slots in the gorge to all ages. The earth's fascinating creations are out of this world. Wear layers of clothing because inside the slots are cooler. The slots do not go in far, but stopping and looking at the creative structures, sitting and really inspecting them looking for evidence of creatures utilizing its attributes is a must. We saw a large nest, small crevices where spiders make webs, coyote holes, and evidence of their hunting. Other birds occupied these caverns, as well. We saw cougar/puma, rabbits, and the kangaroo rat scat/poop all over the trails where different prints from the various animals had trekked.

Camping: only 24 spots for all different size rigs. Only electric only. There is a potable water filling and dump station close to the park entrance. Plan ahead for spring, and early summer would be my advice. We were here in February, and there were 8 others in the park as well. Got cold at night 22° was one low temp. Our spot 24 was large, and we are 60 ft long and 2 slideouts fit just fine. With extra area for additional vehicles. The volleyball court is directly next to this site. There are an abundant amount of trees for shade as well as shade structures. Dogs should always be leashed. Large birds were flying overhead.

Stores and fuel are about 10 min away, but these are small towns, not big box stores. The post office was 1 block from the...