Travel Highway 50: a scenic and historic corridor through a land seemingly untouched by man. The Highway stretches all the way from California’s West Sacramento in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, on the east coast; Time magazine called the road the ‘backbone of America’. Travellers who complete the journey will be awarded with a survival certificate signed by the Governor of Nevada.

Elko is in the heart of Cowboy Country, a region where Old West hospitality is the rule, and the famous cowboy culture of old Western films comes to life. Visitors can stay on working-class cattle ranches, attend the Annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering or visit a microbrewery for a taste of some award-winning ales (horsing around is thirsty work, after all). Elko is backdropped by the spectacular snow-capped Ruby Mountains, aka Nevada’s Alps; the region offers unrivalled hiking, fishing, trail riding, heli-skiing and other adventures.

Ely’s most prized attraction is its Ghost Train: an authentic steam-engine train on the Nevada Northern Railway, which transforms into the Polar Express at Christmas. The track was laid more than a century ago, connecting one of the largest copper mines in North America with the Transcontinental routes to the north. Hop on one of the 90-minute journeys and sign up for the ‘Be the Engineer’ experience: you’ll get to run a locomotive, and drive the train.