The road to Wilson Reservoir Recreation Management Area Campground in northern Nevada is fully closed right now, and the full closure ends September 3, not October 15. Both dates come from the same BLM page. The difference is that one sits in the announcement and the other sits in the order attached to it.
The Tuscarora Field Office announcement, dated August 21, 2026, says “Closure dates will be from August 20 through October 15, 2026.” It also says the closure “will be implemented in two phases” and never says what the phases are.
The signed order does:
- Phase 1: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., from August 10 through August 19, 2026, and again from September 4 through October 15, 2026.
- Phase 2: a 14 consecutive day full closure of BLM Access Road 1094, August 20 through September 3, 2026.
So the two month span in the announcement is mostly weekday working hours. The road is open evenings, weekends, and the middle of the day. The part that shuts you out completely is 14 days long and it ends September 3.
What is closed, exactly
The closure starts at the junction of BLM Road 1094 and County Road 730, the IL Ranch Road, about 3.5 miles west of County Road 728, and it restricts access to the campground. The order prohibits three things: public access to the closure area, public use of BLM Access Road 1094, and operating a vehicle “through, around, or beyond a restrictive sign, recognizable barricade, fence, or traffic control barrier or device.” The work is realignment and resurfacing. The order states the closure will not affect any other roads.
The order is issued under 43 CFR 8341, 43 CFR 8364.1, 43 CFR 9212.2 and 43 CFR 2932, and its exemptions run to emergency vehicles, federal, state and Elko County vehicles, permitted construction and debris retrieval, rescue and firefighting crews, and anyone holding written BLM authorization. A camper is not on that list.
The gap this leaves you
Read the announcement alone and you write off the whole reservoir until mid October. Read the order and phase 1 is a road you can use before 8 a.m., between 11 and 1, after 4 p.m., and all weekend. That is a usable trip. It is also a trip with a hard constraint: if you drive in Friday evening and want out Monday morning, the window closes at 8 a.m.
Worth noting on timing: the announcement went up August 21, which is the day after phase 2 started and eleven days after phase 1 started. The announcement feed is where BLM publishes this, and it is not always ahead of the order.
What to do
If Wilson Reservoir was on the calendar for this week, it is not reachable until September 4. After that, plan around the weekday windows through October 15 or go on a weekend. The Tuscarora Field Manager takes questions at 775-934-2467, and the order and map are linked from the announcement page.
Do not take a closure date off a website, including this one, when a barricade and a posted sign are sitting at the junction. Those are the rule. For the rest of what is open in the state, see our Nevada free camping page. Both BLM documents above were read on August 25, 2026.