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Six Mile Canyon Road departing Virginia City

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Six Mile Canyon Road is an approximately 8-mile-long highway which serves the Virginia City area.  Six Mile Canyon Road begins at Nevada State Route 341 (C Street) in Virginia City.  From Virginia City the course of Six Mile Canyon Road descends rapidly through the namesake Six Mile Canyon and enters Dayton in Lyon County.  Six Mile Canyon Road terminates at the intersection of US Route 50 and Fort Churchill Road.

Six Mile Canyon Road has been in use as a highway corridor since the Comstock Lode was struck in 1859.  The Six Mile Canyon corridor historically was the only roadway which served Virginia City that was never part of a toll franchise.  Six Mile Canyon Road was designated as Nevada State Route 79 between World War II and the 1976 State Highway Renumbering. 

Six Mile Canyon Road was paved during the late 1980s and was considered for inclusion back into the State Highway System three times during the 1990s.  Storey County considered tolling Six Mile Canyon Road after the corridor was closed due to flood damage during December 2005. 




Part 1; the history of Six Mile Canyon Road

Six Mile Canyon Road as the name suggests is aligned through Six Mile Canyon in the Virginia Mountains.  This corridor begins at Nevada State Route 341 (C Street) in Virginia City.  From Virginia City the path of Six Mile Canyon Road descends rapidly to the Carson Plains where it terminates at US Route 50 and Fort Churchill Road at the outskirts of Dayton.  Historically Six Mile Canyon Road facilitated direct access for traffic following the California Trail west from Ragtown and Fort Churchill to Virginia City.  

In 1859 the Comstock Lode would be discovered in the Virginia Mountains which led to the establishment of Virginia City.  Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin are generally credited with the discovery of the Comstock Lode. The silver deposit was ultimately named after Canadian miner Henry Comstock. Henry Comstock was an early investor in the mines around Virginia City but sold his interests before generating much profit.

The rise of Virginia City was rapid as it grew numerous miners from exhausted placer claims in California. The community had a population of approximately 3,000 in 1862 which quickly rose to around 15,000 by 1863. Virginia City has been the Storey County seat since it was created in 1861. Storey County is named after Captain Farris Storey who had been killed in the 1860 Pyramid Lake War.

In 1860, a group of Paiutes and Bannocks attacked the California Trail locale of Williams Station on the Carson River. The attack was spurred as retaliation against the owners of Williams Station for having kidnapped and raped two Paiute girls. This incident spurred the larger Pyramid Lake War which led to the establishment of Fort Churchill on the Carson River. Construction on Fort Churchill began on July 20, 1860, and the fortification was complete by 1861.

Ragtown was an emigrant station located east of Fort Churchill along the California Trail near modern day Fallon. The community's name was a reference to the tattered garments hung by travelers who had just crossed the Forty Mile Desert.  Ragtown had Post Office service from May 14, 1864-May 29, 1867, and from May 5, 1884-April 19, 1887.  

Six Mile Canyon was one of the original roadway corridors used to reach by Virginia City.  The canyon was reportedly in use by miners arriving from the eastern states along the California Trail as early as 1859.  The Six Mile Canyon Road was unusual as it was the only corridor to Virginia City that was never part of a franchise toll road.  

Franchise toll rights granted in Nevada Territory beginning in 1861 were for a period of 20 years.  When Nevada became a state in 1864 the previous franchise toll rights were honored.  The Nevada Department of Transportation records indicate 117 franchise toll roads have historically existed in the state.  

A road leading from the California Trail into Six Mile Canyon appears on the 1863 DeGroot's map of Nevada Territory.


Six Mile Canyon Road can be seen in an undated photo (Virginia City Facebook group).


The start of Six Mile Canyon Road east from C Street in Virginia City can be seen below in an 1866 photo (Virginia City Facebook group).


The Empire State Mill can be seen below along Six Mile Canyon Road in the 1870s (Nevada Ghost Towns and Historic Sites photo).


By the mid-1870s Virginia City reached a population of around 25,000. On October 26, 1875, Virginia City would be engulfed by the so-called "Great Fire." The Great Fire left 2,000 homeless and is generally considered to be the start of the decline for the Comstock Lode communities. In 1878 rich gold ore deposits around Bodie, California would draw many of the miners from Storey County. The population of Storey County dropped from 16,115 in 1880 to 8,806 by 1890.

The Nevada Department of Highways was created was created on March 23, 1917.  Storey County was initially excluded from the initial run of State Highways (1919-1920 Nevada Department of Highways Biennial). 


The Six Mile Canyon Road was commissioned as Nevada State Route 79 along with the upper part of Dayton Toll Road (as Nevada State Route 80) at some point between 1942-1943 during World War II.  Nevada State Route 79 and 80 can be seen on the 1944 State Farm map of Nevada.


Nevada State Route 79 and Six Mile Canyon Road can be seen in detail on the 1950 Nevada Department of Highways map of Storey County.  



The 1973 Federal Highway Act required counties to reclassify roadways.  Six Mile Canyon Road did not meet the specifications for being included as a Federal Aid Secondary corridor.  Thusly Nevada State Route 79 was dropped completely as part of the wider 1976 Nevada State Highway Renumbering.  

Storey County would begin to pave Six Mile Canyon Road in the late 1980s to facilitate access for buses and emergency vehicles.  Six Mile Canyon Road was ultimately rejected by the Nevada legislature for inclusion as a State Highway in 1993, 1995 and 1997. 

Six Mile Canyon Road was closed following heavy storm damage on December 31, 2005.  Storey County proposed an ordinance to convert Six Mile Canyon Road as a toll road corridor, but the measure proved unpopular.  Six Mile Canyon Road would be repaired and reopened to traffic on June 21, 2006. 



Part 2; a drive on Six Mile Canyon Road

Eastbound Six Mile Canyon Road begins in Virginia City at Nevada State Route 341 (C Street). 


Eastbound Six Mile Canyon Road begins at an elevation of 6,146 feet above sea level.  The first eastbound mile of Six Mile Canyon Road rapidly descends out of Virginia City and has gradients as steep as 10.4%. 






Six Mile Road winds through the namesake Six Mile Canyon over the course of approximately 5 miles.  The roadway enters Lyon County, Carson Valley and the outskirts of Dayton at approximately 4,500 feet above sea level. 























Six Mile Canyon Road passes through Dayton where the corridor terminates at the intersection of US Route 50 and Fort Churchill Road.  Fort Churchill Road prior to 1976 was part of Nevada State Route 2B and is mostly unpaved.  Fort Churchill was abandoned in 1869 and became a Nevada State Park in 1957. 






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