If you watch Star Trek, space is known as the final frontier. But in truth, the final frontier is indeed Nevada, complete with aliens and all. Inside the borders of this oddly shaped state, it seems rules just don’t apply. There is that one rule, I suppose: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…minus the odd STD I suppose. I’m not writing to you about Vegas, though—been there and done that. Besides, then I’d be violating the aforementioned rule.
I’m writing about the rest of this kick-ass desert state: Nevada is, still to this day, renegade country. The laws here are a bit more lenient than the rest of the lower 47 states. You could die here of your own stupidity or at the hand of an outlaw and end up dinner for the buzzards that circle above the sand. I always thought Nevada was a craphole, believing all it had was Sin City and its redheaded stepchild, Reno; I was wrong.
Let’s face it. No other state could get away with containing Area 51. And aliens probably chose to land in Nevada in the first place because they thought they could blend in with the rest of the kooks. Anyway, my trip to the legendary Laughlin River Run this year included many detours and days exploring this wild state. What started as a 600-mile roundtrip journey with Toph from Long Beach, California, turned into a 3,500-mile journey, through four different states. Utah is pret
If you watch Star Trek, space is known as the final frontier. But in truth, the final frontier is indeed Nevada, complete with aliens and all. Inside the borders of this oddly shaped state, it seems rules just don’t apply. There is that one rule, I suppose: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…minus the odd STD I suppose. I’m not writing to you about Vegas, though—been there and done that. Besides, then I’d be violating the aforementioned rule.
I’m writing about the rest of this kick-ass desert state: Nevada is, still to this day, renegade country. The laws here are a bit more lenient than the rest of the lower 47 states. You could die here of your own stupidity or at the hand of an outlaw and end up dinner for the buzzards that circle above the sand. I always thought Nevada was a craphole, believing all it had was Sin City and its redheaded stepchild, Reno; I was wrong.
Let’s face it. No other state could get away with containing Area 51. And aliens probably chose to land in Nevada in the first place because they thought they could blend in with the rest of the kooks. Anyway, my trip to the legendary Laughlin River Run this year included many detours and days exploring this wild state. What started as a 600-mile roundtrip journey with Toph from Long Beach, California, turned into a 3,500-mile journey, through four different states. Utah is pretty rad, too, minus the crazy religious people that force their version of God down your throat. I left California with only one plan: to make it to the Laughlin River Run. After that, it was anything goes. And it did.
The Silver State still holds many charms of the Old West, and if you pay attention, you can still see America how it was more than a century ago. Back in the day, dirty miners spent every daylight hour searching for gold. At night, the lonely souls required the comfort of a dirty woman. Local bordellos and cathouses still offer up sex as a commodity today. Prostitution—the world’s oldest and dearest profession—is still legal in some Nevada counties. Surprisingly, for any of you that have been to a Vegas casino bar, prostitution is illegal in Vegas’ Clark County.
The miners of old spent lots of money at the brothels and even named mountains after their favorite ladies of the night. Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state in the lower 48. That’s a lot of mounds to check out. And still today, when a guy tires of the womenfolk, as they can become whiney, he can drive for hundreds of miles without seeing another human, keeping his whiskey—life’s other essential—all to himself.
Here is a list of a few of the many ghost towns to explore while on US Route 95, the Veterans Memorial Highway in Nevada. Places are listed starting from the north at Tonopah and heading south on US 95 towards Lost Wages.
Tonopah
At the crossroads of US 95 and US 6 is Tonopah. I would not consider Tonopah a true ghost town—it has a Best Western, McDonalds, and other modern chains that rape the idea of desolate from the landscape. There is really not much to see here during the day since it is in the middle of nowhere. A few hundred miles to the south on 95 is Las Vegas, the City of Lights. A few hundred miles to the north is the bastard child of Vegas, Reno. It is a two-hour ride to Area 51 towards the east and less than a 30 minute ride to Tonopah Test Range, home of the Stealth Bomber. The town lies far from any light pollution, which makes it a top spot for gazing at the stars (tonopahstartrails.com). I looked up and found a constellation in the shape of my manhood. Be sure to fill up your tank before leaving town, because you can’t get gas for a long time.
If you need to burn some time before the sun sets, you might want to stop by the Central Nevada Museum. It is tiny and fairly boring, but hey, it is free and was rated the Best Museum in rural Nevada for the second year in a row. Does that make it sound more exciting? It isn’t.
Neat Stuff…
–Wyatt Earp opened the Northern Saloon here on January 1, 1902, with $80,000 from the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska.
–Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes married Hollywood starlet Jean Peters in room 33 at the L&L Motel in Tonopah. That would be like Bill Gates getting hitched at a Super 8 motel.
Goldfield
Gold was discovered at Goldfield in 1902, and it soon became the largest town in Nevada with a whopping 30,000 people. Only 440 people remain in Goldfield now, so it’s kind of a ghost town, but people still pan for gold.
The Goldfield Hotel is said to be haunted. A lady of the evening was chained to a radiator while giving birth by the dude who owned the hotel. She died and her bastard child was chucked down the mineshaft that the hotel was built over. If you’re lucky, you can see her in room 109 and hear her baby crying on dark nights.
I stopped at Dusty Fenders Grill ’n’ Fill for breakfast and gas. Dusty Fenders is the only place in town that I found with gas. During breakfast I chatted with the waitress and she told me that a bike magazine did a story about her place many years ago. I asked her if I could see the article. To my astonishment it was in an older issue of Baggers written by Billy Bartels who was the previous editor of this magazine and the nephew of the waitress/owner. If you need anything, Dusty’s will find it—unless it’s on a Saturday where Dusty’s contributes to overcoming its financial drama that comes with living in any ghost town by honoring the Sabbath.
Neat stuff...
–Actor Ben Alexander, co-star of TV’s Dragnet, was born here in 1911.
–Wyatt Earp owned his second saloon here in 1905 (see Tonopah).
–Wyatt Earp’s brother, Virgil, died here from pneumonia in 1905. Wyatt bailed out of town shortly after.
–Episodes of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures were filmed here.
Gold Point
During my ride, I totally blew by Gold Point. That’s because it is situated 15 miles off the highway down a dirt road. It is easy to pass up. You can find it by turning onto the 266 junction from 95. Amina, the head honcho at the Beatty Historical Museum (see Beatty) told me that I MUST go there. So I turned around and backtracked about 60 miles. Gold Point is by far the best ghost town I have ever seen (goldpointghostown.com). It is the real McCoy and exposes the fake dust of all the other touristy-type old-west villages. The dirt road through town isn’t too bad. I had no problems riding down the streets on a fully loaded Victory Cross Country with trunk. The backroads surrounding it, on the other hand, are filled with deep and loose gravel and are not recommended for heavy touring bikes.
Gold Point is semi above-the-law. It has no local government or police. At this point, the land and century-old buildings are mostly owned by a guy named Sheriff Stone, a dude named Chuck, and his brother Walt. I met Walt. These men work hard to preserve the buildings, using their own coin and donations from people passing through. They let tourists stay in the cabins in town on Saturday nights for a donation. The local bar does not have a liquor license, but it houses more than 160 kinds of rotgut alcohol to please your intestines. All drinks are by donation. While serving me fire in a glass, Walt told me that Gold Point, formerly known as Hornsilver, remains lawless to avoid any political crap and building-code hoo-ha. Plus, with only a few residents, rules need not apply. Walt gave me the full tour of the town. It is better than any museum I have ever been to. Each building has been maintained and visually matches the original. Unlike a regular museum, nothing is under glass. I got to play with some old cards and chips on an antique poker table in the back of the post office. Everything in town is left out to explore. Walt invited me to stay the night. I was already behind schedule and had to sadly decline his offer. Plan on staying a day or two if you visit.
Stuff to know…
Everything in Gold Point is owned by someone, even a rusty old can. Don’t blame me if you get shot and thrown down a mineshaft if you try to take a souvenir home to your little sister. I warned you. This isn’t Disneyland.
Beatty and Rhyolite
Beatty is located on US Highway 95 at the junction of Highway 374. There is a 95-mile stretch between Tonopah and Beatty through hypnotic desert scenery across wide plains and distant mountains. Beatty is tucked in-between Death Valley and Nellis Air Force Base.
Make sure to stop at the Beatty Museum and Historical Society (beattymuseum.org) and ask the lovely Amina if you can see the can of jackrabbit milk hidden in an old refrigerator. I didn’t think jackrabbits made milk. Aren’t all jackrabbits male and the female versions are Jane or Jill rabbits? I wonder what part you need to milk on a jackrabbit?
Just west of Beatty, on the eastern edge of Death Valley, is Rhyolite, a ghost town located in the Bullfrog Hills that was founded in 1905. Rhyolite has a few cool buildings left and is probably one of the most photographed ghost towns in America. It’s been filmed for several movies—none of which I care about. But a house made out of empty bottles made me want to sing “99 Bottles of Beer” and then take a pee. Just outside of the town is the Goldwell Open Air Museum (goldwellmuseum.org). There you’ll find giant sculptures like Albert Szukalski’s, “The Last Supper,” which looks super creepy, and Dr. Hugo Heyrman’s “Lady Desert,” a naked cinder block chick, which despite her square boobies, looks oddly sexy.
More stuff to know…
Just north of Beatty is Angels Landing, and a little further north is the Shady Lady (shadyladyranch.com). Beatty is in Nye County, which allows prostitution. Truckers provide the ladies plenty of business. Unfortunately, those truckers don’t pay the gals in gold.
Crystal
Brothel Art Museum is in the community of Crystal, a hamlet 25 miles north of Pahrump that seems to exist for two purposes only—to serve alcohol and deliver sex for money.
We were there for the art. We may be on fancy machines but couldn’t afford to partake even if we wanted to.
End
Stay tuned for more adventures across Nevada and neighboring desert states. What these states lack in water they make up for in wild and resilient folk and landscapes that always have great stories to tell and hide. And the next time you end up in Vegas, don’t stay in Vegas. There’s much more out there in Nevada to take a gamble on. More info on ghost towns can be found at, ghosttowns.com, ghosttownexplorers.org/ghostnv.htm, travelnevada.com/tourist-attractions/ghost-towns.aspx. B
Nevada Road Facts
Texting while driving is illegal.
Helmets and protective eyewear must be worn.
Lane sharing is prohibited, but riding two abreast is ok.
The speed limit on rural highways is 75 mph.