Heritage & Devotional Objects

Plan Your Visit

The Drive Itself Is a Gift

Verdi, Nevada sits along the Truckee River where the Sierra Nevada crests into the high desert. The town was named in 1868 — Italian, for the composer Giuseppe Verdi, and by happy coincidence the word also means green, fitting the canyon that surrounds it. Once a railroad and timber stop on the Central Pacific line, today it is a quiet doorway into the mountains.

The road in is part of the visit. From Reno, twelve miles west on I-80; from Lake Tahoe, an hour over Donner Pass; from the Bay Area, the drive climbs through pine forest and granite before opening to the Truckee canyon. The mountains witness you arriving — bring time for them.