Rhyolite Ghost Town
Rhyolite, Nevada is a quaint little ghost town that is full of scenic options for the photo enthusiast. Rhyolite Ghost Town has many remnants of the town’s past and even has some building still partially standing. You can get some great photos of these abandoned buildings with the big blue desert sky in the background if you pick a clear day.
Rhyolite Ghost Town
Rhyolite started out in the early 1900s as robust little mining town that had almost 6,000 residents. The town had everything an average gold and silver mining town would want back in those times; a hospital, an electric plant, a jail, plenty of saloons, a red light district, and even its own stock exchange.
Unfortunately, this little gold and silver mining town only had less than a decade to prosper. (1905-1910) An economic downturn devastated the United States collapsing its banking system, closing businesses and eventually closing mines making Rhyolite the present-day ghost town it is today.
If you are visiting Death Valley National Park or driving between Tonopah and Vegas, Rhyolite is worth the short detour!
Rhyolite is approximately 100 miles (160 km) from Tonopah and takes about 1.5 hours to drive. If you are driving on the 95 Veterans Memorial Hiway you can branch off to route 374 in the town of Beatty and follow that road to Rhyolite. Rhyolite is about a 2-hour drive north-west of Las Vegas.
Small Hikes
There are a few hiking trails that lead to some of the old mining shafts. But a word of caution, you may want to wear closed footwear as you may find yourself walking near some of the local wildlife. I found this Tarantula while I was walking along the trails in my flip-flops; not a good idea! There are also signs warning people about rattlesnakes in the area.
Don’t let this stop you from visiting the Rhyolite ghost town. As long as you wear closed footwear and you are mindful of where you walk you should be OK.
Toms Glass House
This is one of three glasshouses that were built in and around Rhyolite by Tom Kelly. Tom, a local miner, spent over 6 months collecting over 50,000 empty beer and Liquor bottles so he could build these unique places.
You can’t enter these houses, but you can see how people lived back then if you peek into the windows. Everything has been left as it was back in the day.
I hope you enjoyed this post on the Rhyolite Ghost Town. If you would like to share anything with our readers you can write something in the comment section below. Thank you for visiting Travel Can Be Cheap.
Tyler England
