While dog-sitting a friend's dog, Erza, I thought it'd be great to show her around the northern Peavine hills, otherwise known as Horizon Hills. She doesn't get outside the city much, so I was curious to see how she did in this OHV area.

She was mostly scared. It doesn't seem like she's touched much dirt in her life. Any time I got off trail, she had a big hesitation before deciding that she might as well just follow.

This is one of my favorite places to take the dogs. Whether during the weekdays or the weekend, there's a limited amount of UTV or vehicle activity in this area, despite the intricate system of roads that follow canyons, saddles, and ridge tops, and the mountain bike trails that take advantage of the constant changes in elevation.

Last summer, I had driven some of these trails to take the dogs up the hills to the left. Now, they're a bit to muddy, which makes sense given the northern aspect of this area.

It's only about 20 minutes from my house, and the dirt roads are beaten up but fully accessible during dry and wet periods, so it's been a dependable piece of land for having a quiet outing.

In the back, Peavine Mountain.

The last couple years, I had committed to going up higher and higher Peavine Mountain, which you can access near the Amazon warehouses in Stead. But I kept on seeing that there were other trailheads several miles before that turn out. I assumed that they would be much more popular OHV systems, but each time I tried a new trailhead out, the only thing I really saw were boondockers.

A lone RV at Horizon Hills. in the back, you can see how northern Reno suburbs encroach up to the Forest Service borders that cover the Peavine area. It's likely only the expense of knocking out tons of rock that limit the development of those lower ridgetops.

I'd be lying to see Erza particularly enjoyed the experience; she's even scared of riding in the car, so I hope that she expanded her own horizons around here.

But maybe I could see a partial glimmer of curiosity in her eyes as she climbed a hill with me to a nearby mountain bike trail.