Brown's Creek Trail

Brown's Creek Trail is a hidden but moderately trafficked hike beginning in a development where South Reno meets the base of the mountains.

The trail name might be a misnomer, as aside from a couple quick creek crossings over small wooden footbridges, this hike spends most of its distance on ridgesides wandering through the trees or tracing slopes with elevated views across Washoe Valley below.

The hike can be broken up into two distinct parts. The first is the climb from the parking area up a series of wide sweeping switchbacks that gains a little over 500' in elevation as it leaves a homes of a subdivision behind and heads into the pine wooded forest at the base of Mt. Rose and the Sierra Nevada range. Occasional views of the peaks poke through the trees, as well as the core area of Reno in the northern direction.

Upon reaching the top of the hike, a sign announces a short spur to a vista point, where a bench and interpretive sign recalling the brief history of Sundown Town, a short lived 1960's western ghost town themed amusement park above Washoe Valley, stand before a wide view of the lower Sierra cascading into the distance. If you were to turn around here, the total out-and-back distance would be just over 3 miles. Continuing on leads to a loop that traces the slope down to Brown's Creek, before crossing to the other side and paralleling the creekbed on another sloped surface. While not immediately beside the creek, the stream remains near enough that it's easy to make a quick detour down to dip your hands or feet in to cool off. 

Completing the loop adds on another 2 miles in distance. While the loop portion isn't incredibly scenic, it does have a fork heading higher into the forest area, and tends to be a popular mountain biking trail.

Horses, mountain bikes, and leashed dogs are all permitted on the trail. While this path does see a fair amount of users, it offers a less crowded alternative to the busier nearby Galena Creek Regional Park trails.

There are no bathrooms or water located at the trailhead or anywhere on the hike.