For the first time, boaters have a developed area to put into the Carson River at Morgan Mill Road in Carson City. The area offers a concrete launching ramp, paved parking, picnic tables and a restroom, and similarly improved facilities to take out of the river at Santa Maria Ranch in Dayton.

The unveiling by Carson City and Lyon County officials will be May 22.

This stretch of the river opens new boating facilities for whitewater rafting and kayaking that have opened on the Carson River Aquatic Trail between Carson City and Dayton.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony at 10am and tour new Morgan Mill facilities, just upstream of the Bureau of Land Management offices at Deer Run and Morgan Mill roads, south of Highway 50. The Carson River Aquatic Trail has two segments:

The 3.3-mile Upper River Class I float is a peaceful 1.5- to 2-hour ride from Carson River Park through cottonwood and willow-lined riverbanks, concluding at Morgan Mill. It is suitable for beginners.

The 9.3-mile, 2.5- to 3-hour Lower River Class III ride for experienced floaters puts in at Morgan Mill and offers exciting, challenging rapids in scenic Carson River Canyon with wildflowers, historic rock walls, mill sites and other relics from the old V&T Railroad and Comstock mining era. It terminates at Lyon County’s newly redesigned Santa Maria Ranch River Park in Dayton, next to the Santa Maria subdivision on Highway 50 in Dayton. It now includes parking, restrooms and a river-access beach for rafters and kayakers.