Future Sections

The Truckee River canyon east of Truckee is a lovely, steep canyon with wooded slopes and a rich history. Most of the property in the canyon is private, owned by parties who do not want the Bikeway on their land. Therefore, the selected alignment for the 15-mile trail is on the north side of the river, mostly below Interstate 80. It will be difficult and expensive to build, especially near Floriston. At present, the two options for biking from Truckee to Verdi are on I-80 (not recommended, especially during Caltrans construction season) or through USFS lands via Stampede Reservoir and Dog Valley—as the early pioneers did.

The popular river trail through Reno and Sparks ends abruptly near Vista Blvd in Sparks, due to the railroad. Despite our long-held hope to bridge over the river and continue east on the pioneer trail, that has been stymied by landowners and lack of support by Storey county government. Therefore, the current plan is to travel east of Vista Blvd on the north side of Interstate 80, where the terrain is very steep, but the views are lovely and the level of cooperation better. This 5-mile trail would extend to Mustang, where it will connect to the 9-mile Mustang-Clark trail (2011).

This section of the Bikeway is surprisingly difficult, due to the narrow canyon with both the railroad and freeway passing through. It is unknown at this time how the trail will be routed from USA Parkway to Derby Dam, but it is hoped that from Derby Dam to Wadsworth the dirt maintenance road alongside the Truckee Canal can be used. This requires cooperation from the private landowners, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. The length of this section will be approximately 20 miles, depending on what route is eventually used. In the meantime, I-80 is the only way to travel along the river in this section.