Home to only 250 people, Genoa offers visitors a quaint town with historical charm. You can spend the day shopping at Genoa Square, where you’ll find unique gifts, old-fashioned candy and freshly ground coffee, or have a picnic at Mormon Station State Historic Park. On a warm day, you can grab a cool drink at the Genoa Bar, Nevada’s oldest saloon. After a round of golf at Genoa Lakes Golf Club, relax with a massage at David Walley’s Hot Springs. Be sure to visit Genoa’s historic buildings—Genoa Town Hall, Genoa Community Church and Genoa Courthouse Museum. The Genoa House Inn and the Wild Rose Inn, both bed-and-breakfasts, are decorated with Victorian elegance.

Genoa, pronounced “ju-NO-ah,” is nestled on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Carson Valley, 20 minutes from Lake Tahoe’s world-class skiing. Established in 1851 by Mormon traders, it was called Mormon Station until 1855 when, as legend has it, Judge Orson Hyde named the burgeoning town after Genoa, Italy, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

If you are visiting Genoa in September, make plans to attend the annual Candy Dance. The event began in 1919 to raise money for streetlights by passing out candy at a dance and continued to pay the electric bills. In 1970 a small crafts fair was added, and now the Candy Dance Arts and Crafts Fair draws large crowds, closing down the streets for an entire weekend.