Silver State Sights - Caliente

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - For the 1100 people who live in the small Lincoln County town, life is a bit different.

“It’s a lot slower. You learn that you are going to travel to do any shopping,” said long time resident Rick Phillips.

The town is best known for its railroad depot which is now headquarters for the city of Caliente. Once known for being the halfway point on trips from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, the depot is now coming up on its 100th year.

“it was built in 1923,” said Phillips. “The original burned down in 1921 and the Spanish style one was built 1923. At that time there were 13 tracks going across here.”

More than a dozen trains come through each day, but unlike in years past, they are now exclusively freight trains.

It may be a small town, but its big enough to have places to stop and grab a meal or a drink. And there are plenty of other attractions nearby.

“Caliente is a great location,” said Tracie Barnthouse of Travel Nevada. “It’s a great home base for you to stay and then see five different state parks.”

The closest state park to town is the small but scenic Kershaw-Ryan State Park, and while it’s a little bit farther, perhaps the most popular of the five is cathedral Gorge State Park, which will be featured on the next episode of silver state sights.

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