3555 Piute Creek Rd , Reno, NV 89510(Washoe County)

West Corner: 39.7439, -119.4819;

Location:

-8 Mi to Wilcox Ranch Rd

-16 Mi to Pyramid Hwy 445/Ironwood Rd.

-29 Mi to Pyramid Lake

-39 Mi to Reno-Tahoe International Airport

Property Information:

County: Washoe County, Nevada;

Acres: 107.51;

APN: 076-600-08;

Elevation: 7,440 - 7,760 Ft;

Zoning: GR - General Rural;

Land Use Code: 120 Single Family Residential (Livestock Allowed);

Electricity: None - Off-The-Grid;

Water: None - A well will be needed;

Septic: None - A septic will be needed;

Roads: Gravel and Dirt roads;

Time Limit to Build: None;

Game Management Area #022;

Yearly Taxes: $299.70 - Tax Year: 2021-2022;

Type of Terrain: Varied, Uphill, Downhill, Rolling, Rocky, Few trees, Open;

County Contact Information:

For land use: Call Washoe County Planning & Zoning Dept for questions about building codes;

For Property Information: Call Washoe County Assessor;

Pyramid Lake Information:

Geography

Pyramid Lake is located in southeastern Washoe County in western Nevada. It is in an elongated intermontane basin between the Lake Range on the east, the Virginia Mountains on the west, and the Pah Rah Range on the southwest. The Fox Range and the Smoke Creek Desert lie to the north.

In a parallel basin to the east of the Lake Range is Winnemucca Lake, now a dry lake bed. Prior to the construction of the Derby Dam in 1905, both lake levels stood at near 3,880 ft (1,180 m) above sea level.[16] Following the dam's completion, the water levels dropped to 3,867 ft (1,179 m) and 3,853 ft (1,174 m) for Pyramid and Winnemucca, respectively.[17] In 1957, the Pyramid Lake level was at 3,802 ft (1,159 m) and the dry Winnemucca Lake bed at 3,780 ft (1,150 m)[18] had been dry since the 1930s.

Pyramid Lake is the largest remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, which covered much of northwestern Nevada at the end of the last ice age. It was the deepest point of Lake Lahontan, reaching an estimated 890 feet (270 m) due to its low level relative to the surrounding basins.

Sutcliffe is on the west shore of Pyramid Lake along State Route 445. Nixon is on the Truckee River to the southeast of the lake on State Route 447.[19]

The name of the lake comes from the impressive cone- or pyramid-shaped tufa formations found in the lake and along the shores. The largest such formation, Anaho Island, is home to a large colony of American white pelicans and is restricted for ecological reasons. Access to the Needles, another spectacular tufa formation at the northern end of the lake, has also been restricted due to recent vandalism.[20]

The Pyramid

The Pyramid (395848N 1193006W), also known as Fremont's Pyramid and Pyramid Island, is a small island near the southeastern shore of the lake.[21] It is located approximately 1.2 miles northeast of Anaho Island and slightly less than six miles from the community of Sutcliffe. The white band seen to the east of the island is composed of calcium carbonate which came from when the lake was at or near its overflow point.[22]

Fish

Major fish species include the Cui-ui lakesucker, which is endemic to Pyramid Lake, the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout (the world record cutthroat trout was caught in Pyramid Lake). The former is endangered, and the latter is threatened. Both species were of critical importance to the Paiute people in pre-contact times.[6] The Lahontan cutthroat was called "Hoopagaih" by the Paiute people.[23] As they are both obligate freshwater spawners, they rely on sufficient inflow to allow them to run up the Truckee River to spawn, otherwise their eggs will not hatch.[13]

Diversion of the Truckee for irrigation at Derby Dam beginning in 1905 reduced inflow and the lake level to such an extent that stream flow is rarely sufficient for spawning. The Truckee Canal diverts water used to irrigate croplands in Fallon. The dam lacks fish ladders which prevents upstream spawning. By 1939 the Lahontan cutthroat trout (the "salmon-trout" as described by Fremont) became extinct in Pyramid Lake and its tributaries. They were replaced with hatchery trout from outside the watershed.[24]

However, in 1979 a remnant population of the original Pyramid Lake cutthroat trout was discovered in a small brook on Pilot Peak, on the Nevada/Utah border, by Dr. Robert Behnke of Colorado State University while he was looking for the Bonneville cutthroat trout, another subspecies of the cutthroat trout. The fish were tiny and in poor condition, but Behnke identified the fingerlings as the missing Pyramid Lake variety.[25][26]

Subsequent DNA testing of a museum specimen has shown his identification to be correct. The fish had apparently been dumped in the creek in the early 20th century. A brood stock was raised at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Lahontan National Fish Hatchery in Gardnerville, Nevada and a successful reintroduction effort was mounted by the USFWS and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. As of 2017, 24 pound Pyramid Lake Lahontan cutthroat trout are again being caught from the Lake's waters.[24][27]

The fish are doing very well, according to the USFWS project head Lisa Heki. The fish have also been placed in California's Fallen Leaf Lake, upstream of Pyramid Lake, and elsewhere. Fish populations are now sustained by several tribally-run fish hatcheries and state and federal agencies.[28] The Pyramid Lake Lahontan cutthroat trout is one of the largest inland trout species in the world.[29] ~ Wikipedia