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The American Bus Association (ABA) listed White Pine County’s Fire and Ice Festival among the top 100 events in North America, recognizing not only its entertainment value but also its potential as an economic engine for White Pine County’s tourism industry. The ABA listing gives the annual Fire and Ice festival increased visibility among professional tour planners and motor coach groups. Open to the public, Fire and Ice features ice sculpture competitors from around the country showcasing their artistic ice and snow sculpting talents. The fire of the event comes at night with a spectacular firework show.

This visually stunning annual event is perfect for the entire family and all ages and takes place in Ely, just four hours northeast of Las Vegas, Jan. 18 through Jan. 20. The ice sculptures are judged based on creativity, workmanship and compliance with the rules of...

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First time Fire & Ice Festival sculptors Harley Haslem and his friends and family created this sculpture of a miner, “The Prospector” won first place at the Cave Lake State Park event. Photo by Charlie JohnstonLate in the morning on the second day of our Ely road trip, Ryan and I decided to put off lunch and get out to Cave Lake State Park immediately following our diesel train excursion. We had driven more than 300 miles east across Nevada and were anxious to finally see the sculptures at Ely’s Fire & Ice Festival.

A short drive south on U.S. 50, then east on State Route 486, and we were at the lake. After a few minutes adding layers under our jackets – the temperature lingered somewhere in the upper 20s all afternoon – we made our way onto the ice. It...

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Scenic Highway 50: The Loneliest Road in America offers several towns with rich histories along its path.The crew here at Traveling Nevada will be taking off and cruising through the state next weekend to hit up the Fire and Ice Show at Cave Lake State Park. We’ll be driving from Reno to Ely along Highway 50 and stopping along the way to meet a few folks and see a few of the attractions in Austin and Eureka.

The trip ought to be a good one. We’ll be hitting Austin first as we head east and meeting with Jan Austin, who runs a nonprofit group that’s renovating the old church there. She also has her finger on the pulse of the town that serves as Nevada’s geographic center and can show us a few things as we spend a little time there.

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