Nevada Ghost Towns

Southern Nevada Ghost Towns

You never have to go far to get a little out there. From Jarbidge and Goodsprings to Hamilton and Berlin, ghost towns are all around. Some of the Silver State’s best 19th-century boomtowns are right outside Las Vegas, Death Valley, and (once upon a time) even under Lake Mead.

Near Las Vegas, the Techatticup Mine in Eldorado Canyon is a photographer’s paradise with thousands of movies and photoshoots to its name and plenty of leftover props to hunt down. In its heyday, this mine pumped out millions of dollars in gold, silver, and copper, making it the richest and most famous in southern Nevada. Bring your camera, snap some souvenir photos, and venture underground with Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours.

Nestled in a volcanic rock canyon on the edge of Death Valley is Rhyolite Ghost Town: one of the most photographed places in Nevada. Its population exploded after Shorty Harris’s famous 1904 gold discovery, but by 1920, dwindling mine production caused the town to collapse. The looming remains of the bank, general store, and train depot have starred in many films alongside attractions like the Tom Kelly Bottle House and, later, the avant-garde Goldwell Open Air Museum.

Head to Goodsprings Ghost Town, home of the oldest bar in southern Nevada. The town’s population peaked in 1916 while supplying zinc and lead for World War I. Grab a bite inside the Pioneer Saloon, whose bar counter originally stood in Rhyolite before the town busted. Look for bullet holes from a poker game gone wrong in the original Sears and Roebuck stamped tin walls and cigar burns on the bar left by Clark Gable.

Nevada Ghost Towns In Between

With so much wide-open space to explore, you’re bound to run across a ghost town or three tucked away in Nevada’s more remote basins and foothills.

Metropolis Ghost Town met its untimely demise at the hands of crop-eating jackrabbits, a typhoid endemic, an invasion of Mormon crickets, fire, and drought. All that remains today is the schoolhouse’s distinctive brick archway, the ruins of a hotel, and dozens of scattered foundations.

Unionville Ghost Town is a short backcountry detour off the interstate between Lovelock and Winnemucca. With a population of less than two dozen, this “living” ghost town was once a county seat. The canyon is still packed with ruins, including the remnants of a brick general store and a cabin that Samuel Clemens (pen name: Mark Twain) called home for a few weeks.

Belmont Ghost Town is one of the Nevada ghost town greats. Unlike most others, Belmont’s boom lasted an impressive 20 years. Take in sights like the 150-year old Belmont Courthouse, perfectly masoned miners’ cabins and mill sites, and the Monitor-Belmont Mill chimney—originally built to mill bricks, then used for target practice by WWII Air Force pilots.