Nevada's newest state park stands out for what it doesn't have.

Modern development. Noise. Or even a name.

Nevada State Parks and Western Rivers Conservancy announced early Wednesday a more than 1,600-acre land conveyance to the state to create Nevada's 28th, and newest, state park. The land transfer occurred just hours earlier.

The property, which started as an agricultural ranch before operating as a divorce ranch in the 1940s and serving as a testing ground for U.S. Army military vehicles, is located about 5 miles east of Dayton State Park and borders the Carson River for 4.5 miles. The park, part of the traditional homelands of the Northern Paiute and Washoe peoples, also encompasses portions of the California and Pony Express national historic trails.

There's no signage at the property yet, and it will be awhile before it looks like other Nevada state parks — with paved roads, trails, campgrounds and restrooms.

Instead, old ranching buildings in various states of decay pepper the property. An old well on the site is believed to have served as a place for women staying at the property to toss their old wedding rings once they'd been granted a divorce. 

A lookout over the park was said to be used by explorer John C. Fremont in 1844 to document westward migration. Based on his surveys, Fremont opted to follow the Walker River instead. 

"I think that's the best part about getting a new state park — learning its story," Nevada State Parks spokesperson Tyler Kerver said Wednesday while walking across the property.

Now, its lush landscape is a haven for wildlife.

The park ties Lyon County with Clark County for five state parks each. Only Lincoln County has more, with six.

Before the park can open to the public, unsafe buildings — and there are quite a few — must be shored up or removed, Kerver said.

And a master plan, including public input, needs to be drafted for the park, he said.

If the park's facilities are kept simple, it will be a year or two before the park is open to the public. If a campground is added, it could be longer, Kerver said. "We want to make sure it's safe and recreationable."

Fort Churchill Road, which passes through the property, remains open as a county road.

The property was valued at $6.9 million, but Nevada purchased the property for just $5 million using a mix of Conserve Nevada grant funding and federal Land and Water Conservation Fund money. The owner, Dayton 2024 LLC, donated $1.9 million in value. 

"We could not cobble together enough public funding to do the full project, and the landowner offered to reduce the price to the funding we have available," said Susanna Danner, project manager at Western Rivers Conservancy, which facilitated the sale. "That was absolutely essential."

A divorce ranch and military vehicle test area

The ranch was established in the 1800s for agricultural purposes, and in the 1940s, the Break-A-Heart Ranch is said to have doubled as a divorce ranch. Nevada's history as the divorce capital of the world was founded on its early history of granting divorces in as little as six weeks.

In the early 1970s, the ranch became a hub for military vehicle testing, where automotive innovator Henry Hodges operated the Nevada Automotive Test Center.

From 1953 to 1957, Hodges managed the Detroit Arsenal Test Operation of the United States Army at Camp Bullis, Texas, where he directed the testing and development of combat vehicles. The tanks and jeeps required repeated testing on desert dunes, mountain trails and mud pits. In 1957, the Texas programs were transferred to Nevada, and the Nevada Automotive Test Center was founded.

Hodges continued his work, developing and implementing the methodology for testing tire traction on hard surfaces, soft soil and in winter environments, directing most of the original testing and development for vehicles for the Army that were later nicknamed "Hummers." He also made strides in tire pressure adjustments and developed safety seminars promoted by the American Trucking Association decades later.

In 1972, the ever-expanding test center moved its operations to what was then a state-of-the-art proving facility at Break-A-Heart Ranch, where more than 200 people were employed.

In 1999, state lawmakers adopted a resolution honoring Hodges. At the time, then-Assm. Mark Amodei (R-Carson City) said one of his earliest memories growing up in the area was seeing trucks and tanks rolling out of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Roundhouse.

"The reason that tanks and trucks and things like that were being rolled out of the Virginia & Truckee Roundhouse was because Hodges' Transportation was the tenant of the roundhouse at that point in time. They have been a part of this State for a long time, in the proving ground related area for military vehicles," Amodei entered into Assembly records. "They have since moved out to another historical property in western Nevada, the sight of the Break-A-Heart Ranch which is on Fort Churchill Road. When you decide you don't want to fight the traffic between Dayton and Silver Springs you go by and drive through the middle of what is now the Nevada Automotive Test Center."

Best long-term stewards 

The Carson River flows 236 miles from the Sierra Nevada to the Carson Desert. The property sits about 6 miles upstream from the Carson River Delta Important Bird Area, and the transfer conserves important riparian habitat for fish and wildlife, according to the conservancy. 

The new state park is Western Rivers Conservancy's second conservation project in the Carson River basin. The organization is also working to conserve the nearly 1,700-acre Park Ranch on the East Fork Carson River, upstream in Alpine County, California.

In 2024, the conservancy also facilitated the transfer of the former Disaster Creek Ranch near the Oregon border to the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and the Oregon Desert Land Trust for the preservation of Lahontan cutthroat trout. The nearly 3,400-acre-property doubles the number of stream miles available to the threatened fish in the northwest portion of its range.

"We try to get properties conserved and transferred to the best long-term steward," Danner said.

NDOW actually recommended Nevada State Parks for the current project, she said. 

"We get this perfect layering of fish and wildlife habitat, cultural resources, public recreation and connecting public lands that surround the property," she said. "We don't always get to work on projects that provide so much to so many."

Choosing a name 

Nevada State Parks is accepting suggestions for the new park's name through July 15, with a list of finalists available for voting in early August.

While "Break-A-Heart Ranch" has a strong historical connection to the property, it is still being used as a brand by a local cattle company, according to Nevada State Parks.

Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) will designate the new state park and announce its name in the fall.