

Free-Range Art Highway
One "Far Out" Trip from Las Vegas to Reno
Route Distance
440 to 515 miles
Suggested Time
1 to 3 days
Fear and Loathing hallucinations have nothing on the real-world wackiness along US-95, where psychedelic free-range art meets the American West. We’re talking kaleidoscopic boulder towers, a color-changing “forest” of junk cars, “post-Playa” Burning Man sculptures, and plenty of other amazingly odd art installations. The 500 or so miles from Las Vegas to Reno also carry you to several funky-flavored towns, home to intriguing murals, top-notch art galleries, and plenty of iconic places to stay—including one with the world’s largest private collection of… clowns. Hands-down, few routes put the trip in “road trip” like Nevada’s Free-Range Art Highway.
Highlights
- Shop and art-hop around the Las Vegas Arts District, AKA “18b”
- Get ghosted at Goldwell Open Air Museum and Rhyolite ghost town
- Snap a pic of some art on a vertical vehicle at the International Car Forest
“Far Out” on the Free-Range Art Highway
A Psychedelic, Open-Air Odyssey Across the Silver State
If awesome art, wide-open roads, and #WeirdNevada wonderment get your gears turning, then—for the love of odd!—this colorful road trip is the blank canvas for your next unusual adventure. Truckers may blast up the 500-mile stretch from Las Vegas to Reno, but with sights ranging from mural-draped districts and oddball open-air galleries to funky shops and historic “haunts” (like, literally), you’ll want to slow your roll and follow your curiosity on—and off—Nevada’s eccentric slice of US-95. On a route bookended by vibrant urban art oases, you’ll bounce from one camera-hogging art installation to the next, while quirked-out small towns entice you with great grub, unique retreats, and new stories.
Glovebox Essentials
Prepare for Your Adventure
Get ready to come chase some horizons with this handy tool kit. Here, you’ll find all the Free-Range Art Highway road trip essentials, including downloadable directions, maps, and podcasts, and tunes to complement your upcoming adventure.
Download Route
Featured Story
Free-Range Art Highway Playlist
Love Nest: Airstream Adventure on Nevada’s Free-Range Art Highway
Let’s Get “Far Out”
The Free-Range Art Highway: It’s a Trip
The stretch of open road from Las Vegas to Reno is about as far out as it gets—in more ways than one. From kaleidoscopic boulder towers and a psychedelic “forest” of junk cars to a ghost town sculpture garden and a haunted, clown-themed motel, the Free-Range Art Highway abounds with oddball attractions. Ready to put the “trip” road trip? Read on.
Leg 1
From Neon Alleys to Ghost Town Galleries
Start off exploring the vibrant Las Vegas Arts District. Then swing by Seven Magic Mountains en route to Beatty where Goldwell Open Air Museum’s avant-garde sculptures await.
Leg 2
Art Cars, Old Haunts, and Way Too Many Clowns
Ogle offbeat auto art at Goldfield’s International Car Forest. In Tonopah, grab burgers and beers before chasing ghosts at two old haunts: The Mizpah Hotel and the Clown Motel.
Leg 3
Bound for Reno’s Biggest Little Arts Scene
Spot bighorn sheep around Walker Lake, scope out a totally “bomb” museum, and peruse literally “old school” art galleries en route to hip, public art-obsessed Reno.

Leg 1
Las Vegas to Beatty
180 miles
- Ogle vintage neon at the Neon Museum, Ferguson’s Downtown, and Fremont East
- Snap surreal selfies that really rock at Seven Magic Mountains
- Scope larger-than-life sculptures at gloriously odd Goldwell Open Air Museum
Kick off your art-tastic adventure in Downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont East District, where several hip, walkable blocks buzz with restored vintage neon signs, Googie fonts, and out-of-this-world art. Then hit the Las Vegas Arts District, AKA 18b, to scope out Graffiti Art Gallery Alley, funky Antique Alley, art galleries, chic cafés, and more. Make the requisite photo-op stop at Seven Magic Mountains before blasting to Beatty, where Goldwell Open Air Museum’s wild sculptures mystify and the town’s warm hospitality satisfies.
Give yourself some space at the funky, retro, alien-friendly Atomic Inn; hit up the pool at the Death Valley Inn & RV Park; or keep things classically cozy at the Exchange Club and Motel 6.

Stagecoach Hotel & Casino
Beatty

Motel 6 – Beatty & Death Valley
Beatty

Atomic Inn
Beatty

Exchange Club Motel
Beatty

Shady Lady Bed & Breakfast
Beatty

Death Valley Inn and RV Park
Beatty
If it’s art you’re after, Downtown Las Vegas is where it’s at, especially along the several walkable blocks of the Fremont East and the 18-block Las Vegas Arts District. Then it’s off to Beatty to get weird in the desert.

Downtown Container Park
Las Vegas

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
Las Vegas

Goldwell Open Air Museum
Beatty

Ice Age Fossils State Park
North Las Vegas

The Neon Museum
Las Vegas

Las Vegas Arts District
Las Vegas

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
Las Vegas

The Mob Museum
Las Vegas

Seven Magic Mountains
Las Vegas

Rhyolite Ghost Town
Beatty
It’s hard not to find a great café in Las Vegas’ Fremont East District and 18b. But when you get to Beatty, you can’t beat Happy Burro Chili & Beer, a rustic old saloon serving up, well, homemade chili and ice-cold beer.

Gema’s Café
Beatty

Area 51 Alien Center
Amargosa Valley

Smokin’ J’s Barbecue
Beatty

Death Valley Nut & Candy Co.
Beatty

Happy Burro Chili & Beer
Beatty

Leg 2
Beatty to Tonopah via Goldfield
95 miles
- Explore old cars turned canvases at the International Car Forest
- Admire the “detail” job on Rocket Bob’s artifact-adorned “art cars”
- Pose with thousands of clown figurines in the haunted Clown Motel lobby
Cruise on to Goldfield, home of the International Car Forest, a junkyard of painted (and planted) vehicles, AKA sculpture-ized canvases for visiting artists. In town, relish Rocket Bob’s automotive mosaics, as well as haunted historic buildings and sagebrush saloons. Follow your nose to Tonopah Brewing Co. for made-on-site beers and bites, and sleep it off at the period-chic Mizpah Hotel or the exactly-what-it-sounds-like Clown Motel. Come nightfall, fight that food coma, step outside, and gaze upward—the skies here are literally stellar.
Bed down at the freshly-restored Belvada Hotel—built in 1906, reopened in 2020. Lux it up at The Mizpah Hotel (still swanky after all 110+ years). Or embrace your inner oddball at the clown-themed motel next to the graveyard.

Tonopah Station Hotel and RV Park
Tonopah

Santa Fe Motel & Saloon
Goldfield

Jim Butler Inn & Suites
Tonopah

The Mizpah Hotel
Tonopah

Best Western Hi-Desert Inn – Tonopah
Tonopah

Goldfield Stop Inn
Goldfield

Belvada Hotel
Tonopah

Hard Luck Castle & Mine
Goldfield

Diamondfield Gulch
Goldfield

The Clown Motel
Tonopah
Ogle art on automobile mediums at the International Car Forest and Rocket Bob’s Art Cars, hunt for haunted history around Goldfield’s boomtown-era buildings, then trace constellations at the Tonopah Stargazing Park.

Central Nevada Museum
Tonopah

Tonopah Historic Mining Park
Tonopah

Crescent Sand Dunes
Tonopah

Rocket Bob’s Art Cars
Goldfield

Goldfield Hotel
Goldfield

Enigmata Esoterica
Goldfield

Tonopah Stargazing Park
Tonopah

Gemfield
Nearest Goldfield

Goldfield Visitor’s Center
Goldfield

Goldfield Historic High School
Goldfield
Match wits with the “meanest bartender in Nevada” at the Santa Fe Saloon, raise a glass to the Earp bros at the Mozart Tavern, or pair a Pick Axe Porter with fresh-cooked fare at Tonopah Brewing Company.

The Dinky Diner
Goldfield

Mozart Tavern
Goldfield

Santa Fe Motel & Saloon
Goldfield

El Marques Mexican Restaurant
Tonopah

Hometown Pizza
Tonopah

Tonopah Brewing Company
Tonopah
Get behind boomtown history with gunfights and lying contests at Goldfield Days, or arm wrestling and mining competitions at Jim Butler Days. Or buddy up with an astro pro for some serious celestial celebrations.

Leg 3
Tonopah to Reno
240 miles
- Go mural spotting with 120+ public art pieces in Midtown and Downtown Reno
- Examine all kinds of old explosives at the free Hawthorne Ordnance Museum
- Peruse spectacular rotating art exhibits at Oats Park Art Center in Fallon
Gear up for galleries, offbeat attractions, and epic eats on the home-stretch to hip and happenin’ Reno. Look out for vintage neon and bighorn sheep en route to the free Hawthorne Ordnance Museum to examine explosive artifacts. Beyond picturesque Walker Lake lies Fallon, home to the artistic oasis of Oats Park Art Center. Then roll to Reno, the funkiest town in the West, where public art, fancy food, swanky bars, bohemian shops, and “burner” vibes abound.
For vintage-meets-modern vibes, check into Kramer’s Midtown boutique motel, or one of six beautifully restored rooms at 1907-built The Jesse Hotel & Bar. For 24-hour action, Reno’s casino-resorts deliver in spades.

Peppermill Reno Resort Spa Casino
Reno

Atlantis Casino Resort & Spa
Reno

The Jesse Hotel & Bar
Reno

Kramer’s Midtown
Reno

THE ROW Reno
Reno

Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel
Reno

Whiskey Flats RV Park
Hawthorne

Hawthorne’s Best Inn
Hawthorne

Whitney Peak Hotel
Reno

Motel 6 – Hawthorne
Hawthorne
Go gaga over more great galleries at Yerington Theater for the ARTS, Fallon’s Oats Park Art Center, and in Reno at the Nevada Historical Society and the nationally accredited Nevada Museum of Art.

Downtown Reno Riverwalk
Reno

Reno Neon Line District
Reno

Hawthorne Ordnance Museum
Hawthorne

Walker Lake Recreation Area
Hawthorne

Candelaria Ghost Town
Hawthorne

Midtown Reno
Reno

Brüka Theatre
Reno

Nevada Historical Society
Reno

Reno Playa Art Trail
Reno

Bighorn Crossing at Walker Lake
Walker Lake
At the end of a badass road trip, it’s hard to beat Nevada for celebratory burgers, brews, and Basque family feasts. Luckily, Reno delivers hefty portions of all of those, plus some great made-here wine, spirits, and more.

The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery
Reno

Reno Brewery District
Reno

Chapel Tavern
Reno

Louis’ Basque Corner
Reno

Butchers Kitchen Char-B-Que
Reno

Beefy’s
Reno

Great Basin Brewing Co. – Reno & Sparks
Sparks

The Eddy Reno
Reno

Noble Pie Parlor
Reno
Reno loves art and wants you to know it. Especially in July, when Artown holds about 500 music, theater, dance, and visual art events. And in October when Off Beat Music Festival takes over Midtown with 100+ live bands.
Hitting the Road? Here’s the Map.
Our 10 Nevada Road Trips
Searching for road trip ideas? Look no further. Go ahead. Scroll around and click the road trip icons for the inside scoop on Nevada’s 10 best road trips, with detailed itineraries, maps, and tips for getting off the beaten track.
#FreeRangeArtHighway
You’re gonna dig this funky desert art scene. Unleash your inner artist and get in on our gallery by tagging #FreeRangeArtHighway next time you’re motorin’ between metros.









Loading…
Loading…

Ghost Town
28 Excuses to Hightail it to Nevada’s Most Photographed Ghost Town
As one of Nevada’s 600+ ghost towns, what still stands at Rhyolite Ghost Town today has qualified it as one of the coolest around. Read on for 28 excuses to bump this one to the top of your to-do… as if you needed any. #NVGhostTown

Wildlife
Wild Burros: Saucy Symbols of the Silver State
Although the desert bighorn sheep carries the Nevada State Animal crown upon its curvy horns, there’s another worthy critter out here that we consider a just-as-deserving Silver State symbol: the one-and-only wild burro. Learn about what makes them such stalwart survivalists, their firm place in our rich mining history, and where you can see them yourself — and maybe even meet one face to snout.

Shopping & Leisure
21 Reasons to Stop Everything & Road Trip Nevada’s Free-Range Art Highway
From colorful urban mural districts to small-town galleries to curious sculptures rising from the desert floor… get ready for an abstract adventure full of camera-hogging art, all the way from Las Vegas to Reno and plenty of surprising places in between. #FreeRangeArtHighway

Hot Springs
Nevada Hot Spring Etiquette Guide: 10 Things to Know Before You Soak
Hot springs are magical. Learn how you can do your part to keep them that way.

Weird Nevada
Weird Nevada Wonders Around the Silver State
A past filled with Wild West boomtowns, top-secret government facilities, and mob-run casinos makes the Silver State an anything-but-ordinary road trip destination.

Shopping & Leisure
10 Road Trip Resolutions Worth Chasing
In the story of your life, a Nevada Road Trip is the ultimate opportunity to write a bold new chapter. So, which Nevada Road Trips will you grab onto in 2020? #NVRoadTrip

Wildlife
12 Icons of Nevada
From a precious gem found nowhere else on the continent, to a tree older than the Great Wall of China, to a creature who can go without water for a year and beyond, Nevada is pretty proud to own some impressive icons. Read on for 12 fixtures you can experience—and develop a newfound passion for—only in the Silver State.

Ghost Town
26 Must-See Nevada Ghost Towns & How to Find ‘Em
If there is any better feeling than the second those tires leave the pavement, you drop off grid with friends, and spend the day digging through places that made the Silver State well, the Silver State… someone kindly loop me in. #NVGhostTown