By foot, car, and sheer curiosity, one local woman is crisscrossing the rugged terrain of Nevada to uncover the stories hidden in its deserts, mountains, and other remote outposts. With a deep love for the Silver State, she’s turning those journeys into epic stories, and her work doesn’t just map the land — it captures the heart of Nevada, one conversation and dusty road trip at a time.
Sydney Martinez spent her early years growing up in Colorado, but she came to the Truckee Meadows in the mid-1990s at the age of 10 when her family moved for her dad’s new job. She grew up exploring the region with her family and graduated from Reno’s Galena High School before majoring in journalism and photography at the University of Nevada, earning her degree in 2009.
Little did she know how much she’d fall in love with the region as an adult.
“I interned at Nevada Magazine and later worked there. I got to explore Nevada,” Martinez says. “I’ve become a consultant and locations expert for a lot of different agencies. I’ve just got a lot of experience being boots on the ground and seeing places first-hand. Nevada became a huge part of my identity, and not the parts being marketed nationally, but ultra-rural Nevada.
“I’ve seen some of the most isolated terrain in the country. I’ve been driving off road and visited some amazing little Nevada-owned businesses and rural bars. There is amazing geology in our state. [Exploring the state] all became a quest of mine and I became addicted to this feeling that there’s something else out there.”
If there is something else out there in Nevada’s wilds, it’s hard to believe Martinez hasn’t found it. From the peaks of the Jarbidge Mountains in northern Elko County down to Gold Butte National Monument south of Mesquite – and pretty much all points in between—Martinez has traversed them all.
“All of the states around us have iconic world-renowned landscapes and most people don’t think of Nevada,” the 38-year-old says. “Nevada deserves a second look. There’s something here that you can’t see right away… People think Nevada is empty, but there’s just as grand adventures out here as anywhere. For me, it’s about showing people, turning the lights on for people. Our public lands are the center of the Nevada experience. They’re what make the state so special. You can wonder what’s across the valley and then actually go there.
In other states, you can’t necessarily do that because they have so much private land.”
The countless conversations with Nevada natives and road trips to barren foothills and beyond left Martinez with an unmatched wealth of knowledge about the Silver State. Her brain has become a database for all things Nevada and she’s used her encyclopedic memory to write a book. “Finding Nevada Wild – The Terrain, Culture and People of the Most Mysterious State in the West” is her latest professional adventure. The book is set for release on Aug. 25 at Barnes and Noble and Amazon among other literary vendors. It’s billed as a guide to “help readers to discover the true essence of the Silver State.”
Martinez has definitely discovered that essence. In fact, she’s probably driven 50 miles on a dirt road to soak it all in while smelling the dust kicked up from her vehicle, hearing the wind blow through the adjacent remote canyon, and maybe even sitting in the natural hot springs that makes its home in whatever valley is close by.
The knowledge Martinez has amassed and the relationships she’s built are what make her colleagues marvel.
“Sydney’s understanding of Nevada is unique in its sheer depth,” says friend Fil Corbitt, who has worked on various projects with Martinez. “If you find yourself in some valley in the middle of the state, Sydney will not only have traveled each of its roads (paved and dirt), but she’ll also have a sense of what’s interesting there, how it connects to the valleys around it, and the cultural history of that place. Plus, she usually knows someone who lives there and what they’ve been up to. Yet even with all that knowledge and understanding, she’s still curious about the place and seems to find something new to check out.”
Corbitt wasn’t alone in his assessment. Mike Branch is a long-time colleague of Martinez, having written books on Nevada as well. He says she simply knows more about Nevada’s back country than nearly anyone else, adding that she’s got a ‘kid in the candy shop vibe’ to everything she does.
“Sydney’s passion for Nevada is palpable and infectious,” Branch says. “You see it in everything she does … You know that wonderful feeling you have when you meet somebody who is deeply enthusiastic about a band, filmmaker, or sports team that you love? That’s what it’s like to talk with Sydney about the Great Basin. I often say that to protect a place you have to fight for it… you have to have a passionate, trustworthy guide who can lead you into it. Sydney is that guide for many of us—a person whose knowledge of and devotion to Nevada helps us to open new worlds.”
Martinez’s website shares a name with her new book – FindingNevadaWild.com. On the site she shares stories of her adventures and folk tales she’s gathered from the state’s long-time residents. There are also links to her YouTube channel and her other love, Song Dog Silver. That’s her silversmithing business. It’s a skill she picked up, kind of by accident.
“I never really intended to start a business,” Martinez says. “I have a wide brimmed that I wear when I’m out. It’s become a part of my personality. I wanted a turquoise hat pin to go on my hat. I looked at lots of great shops but never could find the right pin in any of them. So, I took a couple silver smithing classes and set out to make a pin for my hat. I posted it on Instagram and I had 1000s of DMs… I started making and selling pins and then people wanted necklaces and bolo ties and it was born into a business.”
The adventures she’s undertaken have been rewarding. They’ve shaped her personality and outlook for sure, but Martinez says she certainly didn’t stumble into this outdoorsy lifestyle. She stresses that her pilgrimages to tiny towns and little-known landmarks would never have happened without her husband Jonathon.
“I grew up exploring the region with my family,” Martinez said. “I spent a ton of time outside. My dad spent a lot of time outdoors, but it was not until I met my husband, who is an expert in the outdoors, did I really get into it. I credit him for showing me the powers of the outdoors. He grew up an eagle scout. He knows how to build and fix anything, how to be anywhere and survive. He really took me to the next level and helped make me into what I’ve become.”
So, if you ever find yourself on a lonely Nevada backroad, with nothing but dust in your rearview and wonder on the horizon, chances are, Sydney Martinez has already been there. Still, you can bet she’s ecstatic that others are exploring the same distant twists and turns of Nevada’s soul that she’s spent her life pursuing.
“I’ve seen some of the most isolated terrain in the country," Sydney Martinez
"Nevada deserves a second look. There’s something here that you can’t see right away… People think Nevada is empty, but there’s just as grand adventures out here as anywhere," - Sydney Martinez