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Originally founded as a railroad town site, Elko has long been the capital of inland ranching and is proud to call itself “the real West.” You’ll still find cowboys here who smell of sagebrush and take pride in their profession. In fact, cowboys from around the West come to Elko every January for the area’s signature event, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which draws an international crowd of thousands. Downtown Elko is home of the world-famous J.M Capriola Company, home to Garcia Bit and Spur. This Western Store still makes saddles in their saddle shop and features a Garcia show room, making it the equivalent of Rodeo Drive (that’s ro da o) for visitors and buckaroos looking for authentic western gear.
Elko boasts a significant Basque population, descendants of turn-of-the-century sheepherders from the Pyrenees mountains in Spain and France. Each year, Basques and other visitors flock to Elko in July for three days of dancing, eating and Basque strongmen contests during the National Basque Festival.
Named “the best small town in America” in 1993, recent growth as a prosperous mining and resort town has only enhanced Elko’s high quality of life and western charm, which is well preserved along with its history in the Western Folklife Center and Northeastern Nevada Museum. Today, many visitors come for the temperate, high-desert climate, gaming, golf and outdoor recreation.
The region around Elko includes many of Nevada's most beautiful mountain scenic areas, including the Jarbidge Wilderness Area and Wildhorse Reservoir to the north. Southeast of town, the high desert gives way to the glacier-carved canyons and high-mountain wildlife of the Ruby Mountains, nicknamed the "Alps of Nevada." A 12-mile National Scenic Byway into the canyon climbs past fields of wildflowers to more and more far-reaching vistas, while the snow-covered peaks and alpine lakes offer great hunting, fishing and hiking.
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