Less than 1 mile north of North Valmy is the Humboldt River, which runs through northern Nevada. At approximately 300 miles (480 km), it is the longest river in the arid Great Basin. It has no outlet to the ocean, but empties into the Humboldt Sink. Through its tributaries most of the water in sparsely populated northern Nevada drains into the Humboldt, traversing the state roughly east to west, and passing through repeated gaps in the north-to-south running mountain ranges. It furnishes the only natural artery across the Great Basin, and has provided the historical route for westward migration, railroads and modern highways. The river is named for the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.
The source of the river is a spring called Humboldt Wells at the northern tip of the East Humboldt Range, just outside the city of Wells. The region of the river was sparsely inhabited by the Paiute and Shoshone at the time of the arrival of European settlers. It was one of the last explored areas of North America, receiving little attention until the arrival of American fur trappers in the middle 19th century.
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