We spent a few days last month at the Timber Creek campground in the Schell Creek Range, just north of McGill.

Fantastic.

The campground is a few miles off the Success Loop, a 30 mile backcountry route popular with locals, and at about 8,200 feet in elevation. The temperature dropped to 31 degrees one night during our trip. In August. 

The creek runs through middle of the campground which makes for a stunning mountain atmosphere.

We were in a group site because all the singles were taken, so it cost a little more.

But the upshot was plenty of elbow room for cooking, campfire and all our junk.

Here's Elko looking to help out with the corn beef hash. Or just looking to get some corn beef hash.

A view of the firepit.

We took a drive on Success Loop, a 30 mile route through the backcountry northeast of Ely and McGill.

In addition to the main road, there are countless side routes. We saw sheep, shepherds, sheep dogs, deer, elk, hunters and fantastic views.

The sheep and shepherds were one of the highlights. The shepherds are alone, living in dumpy trailers and responsible for keeping the sheep safe for little pay.

Here's a shepherd's trailer.

And a sheep dog.

Lest we forget, the sheep.

There were all kinds of campsites on the Success Loop occupied by hunters. We came across some bow hunters who had just killed this elk and were cleaning it.

There were also some amazing overlooks. The air is much clearer in northern Nevada, which makes for great views.

We could have spent days just exploring all the back roads. This is definitely a trip for people who want to exercise their 4x4s.

The loop ended at Cave Lake State Park.

It's a small lake with gorgeous, clear water with no motorboats. We saw some kayaks and floating tubes. Lots of folks were fishing from shore for trout, and catching them.

Also cool, these yurts are available for renting at the Cave Lake campground. We're told they're popular with winter ice fishing visitors.

Sadly, we only had two days when we could have used 10. 

Timber Creek Campground is only about 30 minutes from Ely which has restaurants, bars, brothels, hotels and a nice sporting goods store.

If you're not up for roughing it, stay at the historic Hotel Nevada and take some day trips out to Cave Lake and Success Loop.

Then we drove home, with Elko longing for more fun.