Sparks – East McCarran, Prater, and the Sparks Marina
View Sparks - East McCarran & Prater Way in a larger map
Northern Nevada Medical Center is nearby.
Some good shopping here, with a nearby, delightful place to take in the sun and water.
North of I-80
Here off US-395, and then north (left if eastbound) on McCarran, are most of the notables to be found in the area.
TA Travel Center – Western Village soon will be on the right. A truck stop that also has motel rooms, gas, food, and showers. You can also relieve your RV's of its grey water here.
Continuing north on McCarran, at the corner of East McCarran Blvd and Prater Way, to your left you will find most notably a very popular supermarket among burners, Save Mart, which is a great resource for, among other things, water, supplies, and recycling. See below in the listing for fuller details.
In the same shopping center you’ll find The Party Store, with a variety of wigs, glow sticks, make-up and costumes, and Cosmic Coffee with free Wifi.
There are also a number of auto shops and virtually every fast food and some sit-down dining in the area.
South of I-80
The only things of note south are Metal Masters (highly recommended for camp and art metal needs), Buckbean Brewing Company, and RSW Recycling (see below for fuller details).
Eastwards
Just east of here is the Sparks Marina, a delightful place to take in the sun and water, grab a bite to eat and a drink, or take a walk around the marina. It's a nice two mile walk. From I-80, north on McCarran Blvd, turn right on Nichols Blvd to find the Marina. If you go around the marina you will find two nice sit-down restaurants (and several others for more casual fare) — and further down Lincoln Way is the RV park. It is at the end of the street on the left.
Groceries & Water
Save Mart Supermarket
565 East Prater Way – 775-359-9060 – map
Open 5am-1am. This Save Mart has seen a steadily increasing stream of Burner business for some time, and plans for our numbers by ordering certain novelty items and large quantities of water in August. Like all Save Mart supermarkets in the area, they too are going green for this year's burn and beyond.
Other specialty products will be located inside and outside of the store, including Black Rock Bicycles and accessories, Cool Neon el-wire ready-kits, various glow toys, fun hats, masks, goggles and fun glasses, headlamps, solar chargers, tiki torches, medium and small propane tanks and propane stoves, bicycle tubes and lighting, dry ice,vegetarian and vegan sandwich fillers, various energy bars and powders, freeze-dried backpacking foods, sushi, reusable cups and other kitchenware and storage containers, lots of canned beer and other booze, and coolers.
And, like most Save Marts in town, they will also be operating a Drive-Thru Recycling Center for this year's event! A free, multi-community project to promote recycling, this multi-year initiative is designed for your convenience, with no strings attached – just please have your recyclables sorted and clean as possible and removed from bags before depositing. Bicycles, plastics (HDPE 1,2,3,4&5), plastic bags, glass, all metals (aluminum, tin, lead, steel, etc), paper, cardboard, household batteries, and non-perishable food and water are all welcome. Moreover, garbage deposit will be available to recyclers at the rate of $3 per 35-gallon standard trash bag. All proceeds raised from this recycling initiative will be donated to support new local Black Rock Solar installations, and food and water will be donated to local food banks. Both the store and recycling center will be open 24/7 throughout the event until September 7. No worries, they are set up for maximum capacity!
CVS/Pharmacy
680 North McCarran Blvd – 775-359-6808 – map
Open 24/7. Some camping supplies, booze, pharmacy.
Buckbean Brewing Company
1155 South Rock Blvd – 775-857-4444 – map
Open Mon-Thur 11am-6pm, Fri-Sat 11am-7pm. Great beer that comes in 16oz. cans – which means that your beer will be far less affected by sunlight, as well as the fact that cans are far easier to transport and recycle. Beer also comes in 5-gallon and regular-size kegs. Free tasting at the brewery. Highly recommended that you pre-order and make arrangements well-ahead for pickup at the brewery. Check out the link above. To get there from I-80, you'll need to travel south on McCarran (right off of I-80 if you are heading east). Continue down McCarran about 2 miles, and right past Rock Blvd. Buckbean will be on your right in the big warehouse.
Sparkletts Water
312 Capital Blvd, Ste. 104 – 1-800-492-8377 – map
Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. Sparklett’s Water provides water from a variety of distillation systems in 3 and 5-gallon containers at $9.49 per 5 gallons. Containers can be purchased for $6 and returned to the store after the event for a complete refund.
Random Curiosities
Party America
635 East Prater Way – 775-331-3112 – map
Open Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10:30am-6pm. Carrying a variety of party supplies.
Hardware & Camping Gear
Metal Masters, Inc.
1831 Deming Way – 775-358-4613 – map
Open Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 8am-noon. Highly recommended for your camp and art metal needs.
Big 5 Sporting Goods
558 North McCarran Blvd – 775-331-1211 – map
Open Mon-Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 10am-7pm.
Restaurants
Black Bear Diner
235 North McCarran Blvd. – 775-356-1138 – map
Open 6am-9pm. Large plates of reasonably good food. Not much vegetarian options.
TA Travel Center – Western Village
815 Nichols Blvd. – 775-359-0550 – map
Anchors
325 Harbour Cove Drive – 775-356-6888 – map
Open Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-9pm.
Hotels/Casinos
TA Travel Center – Western Village
815 Nichols Blvd. – 775-359-0550 – map
Western Village consists of a service station, restaurant, hotel/casino and septic dump.
Aloha Inn
255 North McCarran Blvd – 775-358-2222 – map
Open 24/7: Burner friendly! Free wi-fi, all rooms have microwaves & mini fridges, and across the street from the detail-oriented Marina Car Wash.
Coffeeshops with Wifi
Cosmic Coffee
663 North McCarran Boulevard – 775-355-9331 – map
Open Mon-Sat 6am-5pm, Sun 8am-3pm. Quality coffee, tea, and some food too!
Recycling, Garbage and Greywater Disposal
Save Mart Supermarket
565 East Prater Way – 775-359-9060 – map
This Save Mart goes out of their way for supporting our recycling, see description above.
RSW Recycling
1455 East Greg Street – 775-329-8822 – map
Open Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm. Takes plastics, glass, aluminum, tin, paper, and cardboard. No dumping – NO FURNITURE!
TA Travel Center – Western Village
815 Nichols Blvd. – 359-0550 – map
Greywater disposal.
Auto Repair/Parts. Tow Service
Reno Vulcanizing Works
225 East Prater Way – 775-356-7500 – map
Open Mon-Fri 7:30am-6pm, Sat. 7:30am-5pm. Highly recommended for most all auto repairs.
Econo Lube
651 North McCarran Blvd – 775-358-7800 – map
Jiffy Lube
215 East Prater Way – 775-359-9682 - map
Pep Boys
300 East Prater Way – 775-358-7200 – map
Midas
245 East Prater Way – 775-355-0508 – map
Kragen Auto Parts
345 East Prater Way – 775-331-7550 – map
RV Supply / Parks
TA Travel Center – Western Village
815 Nichols Blvd. – 775-331-1019 – map
Western Village consists of a service station, restaurant, hotel-casino and septic dump.
Sparks Marina
1200 East Lincoln Way – 775-851-8888 – map
Need more info? Try: Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, Reno News and Review, Reno Gazette-Journal, Reno Magazine, Reno Tahoe Tonight, National Traffic and Road Closure Information, PlayReno, NevadaNet, goTahoe.com, Tahoe.com, Fernleynews.com. 
