Wilson Canyon is a gorge cut by the

Walker River The Walker River is a river in west-central Nevada in the United States, approximately long. Fed principally by snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada of California, it drains an arid portion of the Great Basin southeast of Reno and flows into the endo ...

through a series of volcanic cliffs. The canyon is located west of

Yerington Yerington is a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,121 at the 2020 census. It is the current county seat of Lyon County, with the first county seat having been established at Dayton on November 29, 1861. It is nam ...

, along

Nevada State Route 208 State Route 208 (SR 208) is a state highway in Douglas and Lyon counties in Nevada, United States. It connects U.S. Route 395 (US 395) north of Topaz Lake to U.S. Route 95 Alternate in Yerington. The road serves as the primary transportat ...

. It is managed by the U.S.

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

Description

The canyon runs through the

Singatse Range The Singatse Range is a mountain range in Lyon County, Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast ...

in Lyon County, where the Walker River flows northeast into the Mason Valley. Over the of canyon the elevation of the Walker River drops by , or an average grade of 1% (compared to 0.1% to the west of the canyon). The canyon was named after "

Uncle Billy Wilson Uncle Billy Wilson was an American miner and rancher in the 19th century. Wilson Canyon Wilson Canyon is a gorge cut by the Walker River through a series of volcanic cliffs. The canyon is located west of Yerington, Nevada, Yerington, along Nevad ...

" who was a miner and rancher, and for whom the Wilson Mining District is also named. The

Nevada Copper Belt Railroad The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad was a railroad in the state of Nevada connecting Nevada-Douglas Copper Company mining facilities to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Southern Pacific's former Carson and Colorado Railway subsidiary at ...

ran through Wilson Canyon; the track laid to the canyon was completed shortly before Uncle Billy Wilson's death.

Flooding

What were known as the "1997 New Year's Floods" occurred in western Nevada and northern California. They were the result of a group of snow storms in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

at the end of 1996. Three additional rainstorms came between December 20, 1996. and January 2, 1997. These heavy rainstorms melted most of the

snowpack Snowpack is an accumulation of snow that compresses with time and melts seasonally, often at high elevation or high latitude. Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as they melt, sometimes leading to flooding. Snow ...

below elevation, including that at the headwater of the Walker River. This, plus additional heavy rain between , increased the amount of runoff from the mountains, with the consequence being the worst flood western Nevada had seen in 150 years. During this period Wilson Canyon flooded, the narrow width of the canyon increasing the amount of damage to the area. Large portions of Route 208 were destroyed, with pieces of roadway being found in the river after the flood subsided. Following the flood the highway was closed for two months and repaired at a cost of $726,000.

References

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Canyons and gorges of Nevada This category contains canyons in the U.S. state of Nevada. Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southe ...

Landforms of Lyon County, Nevada