The town of Wells was a great spot to camp for two nights, in order to have a “catch-up” day and get a hike in to Angel Lake.
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Not much to the town itself though. The town was named Humboldt Wells because it lies at the headwaters of the Humboldt River. Even before its founding in 1869, this northeastern Nevada mainstay was catering to travelers. First with the pioneers of the California Trail, then railroad builders and later passengers who headed west on the steel rails, found Wells an ideal place to stretch their legs or overnight it. Some stayed on, establishing ranches and mercantile, building churches and schools.
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Angel Lake was beautiful. To get there, it’s a 12 mile ride out into a lone highway that’s one way in and out. Eventually, you get close enough to the mountain to see the numerous switchbacks to get up to around 10,000 feet at the top! There are two boondocking campgrounds; Angel Creek is about two-thirds up and is nestled around pretty aspen trees and lots of free range cattle. It has a great view of the sagebrush and grass valley below. The Angel Lake Campground is up at the top of the mountain range and right next to the Lake. Either campground would be ideal for Class B weekenders. We drove up there relatively late in the day so long hikes were out. But the lake is stocked with fish and is popular among fisherman. It’s a good place for families too to hang out for the day; some brought big inflatables for kids to perch off of, and the unique high walls around the lake offered fun echoes of kids hollering and one dog in particular had fun barking with himself. Since lengthy hikes were out, we did stroll around the rim for a bit, and took our time cruising back down the mountain to soak in the vast scenic vistas below in 180 degree plus panoramas.
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