Walker Lake State Recreation Area

The Walker River empties into Walker Lake, which is one of the last remnants of an ancient inland sea, Lake Lahontan, which covered much of western Nevada nearly 10,000 years ago. There is no outlet, in essence making Walker Lake an evaporation basin. One of only two large natural lakes in Nevada, Walker Lake provides habitat for endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout. The lake has a shoreline that varies from steep and rocky on the west side to sandy beaches on its east side. Mt. Grant towers above the lake on its west side. The lake is also an oasis for migratory birds, including the common loon, snow geese, white pelicans, several species of grebe, brants, harlequin ducks, and oldsquaws. Snowy plovers feed along the shoreline and American avocets and black-necked stilts wade in the shallows.