Winnemucca readers and outdoor enthusiasts will get a closer look at one of Nevada’s most distinctive new books when author and photographer Sydney Martinez brings her Finding Nevada Wild tour to the Humboldt Museum on Saturday, Nov. 8.

The free event will feature an author talk, question-and-answer session, and book signing. It is part of Martinez’s statewide effort to connect Nevadans with the hidden landscapes, stories, and people that inspired her book.

Finding Nevada Wild is described as both a love letter and an invitation to explore Nevada’s lesser-known places. The project blends photography, travel narrative, and cultural history, with Martinez leading readers beyond familiar images of neon and desert into the backroads and basins that define the state’s quieter character.

On her website, findingnevadawild.com, Martinez calls the work “an exploration of Nevada’s ultra-rurals”, a term she uses for the deeply remote corners that make up much of the state’s geography. Her writing emphasizes the relationships between land, history, and people, drawing attention to the beauty, fragility, and mystery found off the beaten path.

The author’s tour through Nevada communities aims to encourage residents to see their surroundings in a new way. Martinez avoids offering exact locations or maps in her book, instead encouraging readers to, in her words, “find their own piece of Nevada wild.”

Martinez has spent nearly two decades documenting rural Nevada through photography and storytelling. Her professional background includes collaboration with state and federal agencies such as Nevada State Parks, the Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Film Office, and others, where she has helped highlight heritage sites and conservation projects across the region.

The stories featured in Finding Nevada Wild span historical, geological, and cultural themes. Among them is her detailed account of the Flying M Ranch, a remote property long associated with aviation legend Barron Hilton and the mysterious disappearance of pilot Steve Fossett. Martinez’s piece, The Flying M Ranch: Where the Hill of a Thousand Tombs, World-Renowned Adventure, and Safeguarded Isolation Meet, explores the intersection of myth, memory, and isolation in a landscape that has long fascinated explorers and locals alike.

Another story in her ongoing “Legends of Lost Nevada” series revisits the life of Josie Pearl, a frontier woman and miner who lived in the high desert near the Roebling opal fields. Through stories like Pearl’s, Martinez highlights the resilience and independence that have long characterized Nevada’s rural communities.

Her goal, she notes throughout the website, is to share the “stories behind the scenery” — the people, places, and moments that often go unnoticed but define the state’s unique identity.

The Winnemucca presentation is one of several stops Martinez has scheduled this fall as part of a partnership with Nevada Humanities and other cultural organizations. In each location, she discusses not only the making of Finding Nevada Wild but also the broader themes of connection, conservation, and storytelling in Nevada’s changing landscape.

The Humboldt Museum, located at 175 Museum Way, will host the Nov. 8 event. Copies of Finding Nevada Wild will be available for purchase, and Martinez will be signing books following her presentation.

In an overview published by Nevada Humanities, Martinez’s work is described as “a testament to the power of observation and curiosity.” Her writing reflects a desire to bridge Nevada’s urban and rural experiences, inviting readers to slow down, explore responsibly, and rediscover the landscapes that surround them.

More information about Finding Nevada Wild, including sample stories and photography from Martinez’s travels, can be found at findingnevadawild.com