The Old Pioneer Garden Country Inn, located within an oasis of Northern Nevada's high desert, dates back to 1861.

The inn was built the same year that silver prospectors toured the area and established the village of Unionville. Among those seeking fortune in those early days was Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain). His Unionville cabin remains standing.

Today, most visitors come to this ghost town of about 20 inhabitants just to see Twain's cabin and then move on, but there is so much more.

Rooms:

The Old Pioneer Garden Country Inn -- a lodge that owners Lew and Mitzi Jones have refurbished without compromise to its authenticity -- accommodates guests with 11 rooms, 6 with private baths.

The Hadley House:

The Hadley House, a stone structure that once served as the one bedroom home for a wagon maker, includes six bedrooms (two with fireplaces), a living room graced with a baby grand piano, a ranch style kitchen/dining room, and a glass enclosed conservatory. A tournament size pool table, antiques, countless books, and a bay window all add to the home's ambient warmth.

The Tack Room:

The Tack Room sleeps one or two in a stone floored, renovated barn. If you're bringing horses and want to be near them, this might be the room for you, although the horseless are welcome as well.

The Field House:

The inn's other lodging, the Field House, includes four rooms, each with a private bath, large kitchen, living room, and enclosed porch.

Meals:

Meals are served at the Jones' place around a long wooden table in Mitzi's kitchen. When weather permits, diners trek out back to the gazebo or gather around a picnic table.

The ranch yields its own produce, fruits, eggs, and milk products, and Mitzi's healthy home cooked breakfasts are included in you room rate. Dinner is available at a reasonable price.

While Mitzi's in the kitchen, Lew can often be found outside. One of his favorite pastimes involves teaching guests, especially their children, the fine arts of goat milking and goose egg hunting.

About Unionville:

Unionville's mountainous perch features miles and miles of hiking trails sprayed with wildflowers and frequented by all sorts of birds ranging from downy woodpeckers to the American Bald Eagle. In the creek that nestles by the Hadley House, you can fish for German Brown Trout, or head up to nearby Patch Rye Lake to cast for walleye.

Fossil fields about a quarter mile above Unionville contain ammonites -- fossil shells curved into spirals. Star Peak, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, contains the ultimate challenge -- can you get to the top and back before the sun goes down?

As for those with more earthbound interests, the slot machines and golf courses of Winnemucca, the county seat, are only about an hour's drive away. After a hard day of either climbing, gambling, or golf, hardy visitors will appreciate rustic Kyle Hot Springs.

So if your passing through or looking for a quiet western getaway, you own it to yourself to stop at Old Pioneer Garden Country Inn. You'll be glad you did!

Unionville History:

Captain Hugo Pfersdorff shouted "Eureka" when in 1861 he spotted a green gully in the hills of the steep walled canyon that overlooks Buena Vista Valley.

He and his team of prospectors had come looking for rich ore ledges. The sight of the gully gave him hope. Enough hope, evidently, to yell "Eureka."

Journalists reported Pfersdorff's discovery, and in two months, prospectors descended like vultures. Their ranks ultimately formed a village, and the little canyon nook town of Unionville was born.

Unionville's most famous early resident had to have been Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain). He too came seeking wealth, and in his book Roughing It he writes of the day that he thought he had struck it rich. The glittery stones he pocketed were not made of gold at all, however, as his fellow prospectors jeeringly informed him, he had stuffed his trousers with common, everyday mica. A humiliated Twain tucked his tail and left soon thereafter.

Directions:

• Take the Mill City/Unionville exit off Interstate 80 onto Nevada State Highway 400.
• Drive about 17 miles on paved road, then look for the Unionville sign on your right as the highway turns into a well graded gravel road.
• The village is located about three miles up the road into the canyon.
• Unionville is just under 3 hours from Reno (about 150 miles).