Nevada has more ghost towns than any other state, and most tourists never see a single one. They fly into Las Vegas, hit the Strip, and drive home without knowing that abandoned mining camps, collapsed saloons, and entire boomtowns sit within a few hours of their hotel. If you want to see the state that existed before the casinos, you need to know which of the best ghost towns in nevada are actually worth the drive.
This list answers that question directly. We’re covering seven towns that still have real structures standing, from Rhyolite’s skeletal bank building to the weathered storefronts of Goldfield, plus what condition each site is in, how far it sits from Las Vegas, and what you’ll actually find when you get there.
We run tours through Nevada’s back country every week, so this isn’t a list pulled from a map. Each entry includes practical driving details and honest notes on road conditions, because some of these towns require a regular sedan and others need clearance you won’t get in a rental car.
1. Rhyolite: a true Nevada ghost town near Death Valley
Rhyolite sits at the top of most nevada ghost towns lists for good reason. It’s the most photographed abandoned town in the state, and once you see the three-story bank building standing alone against the desert, you understand why. This is the site to start with if you only have time for one stop.
Where it is
Rhyolite sits just off Highway 374, about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas near the eastern entrance to Death Valley National Park. Plan on a two-hour drive from the Strip, and pair it with a Death Valley trip since you’ll pass right by. A standard sedan handles the paved road fine; you won’t need four-wheel drive to reach the townsite itself.
What you’ll see
The Cook Bank Building is the centerpiece, three stories of concrete walls with no roof, framed by open sky. Nearby stands the Bottle House, built almost entirely from discarded beer and liquor bottles, still intact and one of the few structures you can walk right up to. You’ll also find the old train depot and scattered foundations from a town that once held banks, a school, and an opera house.
A three-story bank with no roof and a house built from bottles tell you everything about how fast Rhyolite rose and fell.
Historical highlights
Gold brought 10,000 people to Rhyolite between 1905 and 1911, complete with electric lights and a stock exchange. The gold ran out fast, and by 1920 the town was essentially empty. That boom-to-bust timeline, under fifteen years start to finish, is the sharpest example of Nevada mining history you’ll find anywhere in the state.
Good to know before you go
- Entry is free, and the site is open dawn to dusk
- Bring water; there’s no shade and no facilities on site
- Visit the nearby Goldwell Open Air Museum sculpture park while you’re there
- Summer temperatures regularly exceed 100°F, so plan for mornings
2. Nelson’s Landing: an eerie canyon town near Las Vegas
Nelson sits closer to Las Vegas than any other stop on this list, which makes it the easiest of the ghost towns near las vegas to add onto a day trip. The old mining camp and its river landing sit inside El Dorado Canyon, one of the deepest gorges in the state, and the combination of rusted machinery and sheer canyon walls makes it feel more remote than the short drive suggests.
Where it is
Drive about 45 minutes southeast of Las Vegas on Highway 95 toward the town of Nelson, then follow signs down into El Dorado Canyon. The road is paved to the townsite; a sedan works fine, though the final stretch to the old landing on the Colorado River gets rougher and rewards higher clearance.
What you’ll see
Rusted trucks, mining carts, and old buildings sit scattered across the Techatticup Mine property, which operates as a paid walking tour. Beyond the mine, the canyon itself narrows dramatically as you approach the river, where concrete foundations mark what’s left of the original landing.
A canyon that swallowed a town whole in one night still shows you exactly where the water hit.
Historical highlights
Nelson formed around Nevada’s most productive gold and silver mine, active from the 1860s through World War II. Nelson’s Landing itself, the river port below, was wiped out by a flash flood in 1974 that killed nine people, and the wreckage was never fully cleared.
Good to know before you go
- Mine tours cost around $20 and run daily
- Flash flood risk remains real during summer storms
- Bring cash for the small on-site gift shop
3. Goldfield: Nevada’s haunted mining boomtown
Goldfield isn’t fully abandoned, but enough of the old boomtown survives to make it one of the best ghost towns in nevada for anyone who wants standing buildings instead of just foundations. A few hundred people still live here, and that mix of occupied storefronts next to crumbling ruins gives Goldfield an atmosphere the fully deserted towns can’t match.
Where it is
Heading north from Las Vegas, Goldfield sits about 185 miles up US-95, a drive of roughly three hours. The highway is paved the entire way, so any rental sedan makes the trip without trouble, and you can easily combine it with a stop in Tonopah 25 miles further north.
What you’ll see
The Goldfield Hotel dominates the main street, a three-story brick building famous for ghost hunting shows and closed to the public but striking from outside. Down the block, the old high school and several stone bank buildings still stand, along with the massive rusted headframe of the Goldfield Consolidated Mine.
A town this haunted didn’t earn its reputation from stories alone; the buildings themselves still look like something’s inside.
Historical highlights
Gold discovered in 1902 turned Goldfield into Nevada’s largest city by 1906, with 20,000 residents and more wealth than Las Vegas at the time.
Good to know before you go
- The hotel is private property, so admire it from the sidewalk
- A small museum downtown opens seasonally
- Combine with Tonopah for an efficient overnight loop
4. Tonopah: the queen of the silver camps
Tonopah earned its nickname because silver, not gold, built this town, and it built it fast. Unlike some of the fully deserted stops on this list, Tonopah still functions as a working town with about 2,500 residents, but its mining district and downtown core preserve more Old West character than almost anywhere else on this list of best nevada ghost towns.
Where it is
Sitting roughly 210 miles north of Las Vegas on US-95, Tonopah is about a 3.5-hour drive and sits just 25 miles past Goldfield, making the two an easy combined trip. The highway stays paved the whole way, so a standard sedan handles it without issue.
What you’ll see
The Tonopah Historic Mining Park sits right above downtown, letting you walk through original headframes, ore bins, and shaft openings from the old Mizpah and Belmont mines. Downtown itself still holds early-1900s brick buildings, including the Mizpah Hotel, said to be one of the most haunted hotels in the state.
Silver built Tonopah overnight, and the headframes still standing over downtown prove it.
Historical highlights
A prospector named Jim Butler discovered silver here in 1900, and the district went on to produce over $150 million in silver and gold before mining slowed by the 1930s.
Good to know before you go
- Mining park admission runs about $10
- Self-guided walking maps are available at the park entrance
- Book Mizpah Hotel rooms early if you want to stay overnight
5. Belmont and Manhattan: twin mining ghost towns
Belmont and Manhattan sit close enough together that you can visit both in one afternoon, and pairing them shows you two different stages of decline. Belmont is nearly untouched, while Manhattan still has a handful of residents mixed in with its ruins, so together they round out this list of nevada ghost towns with real contrast.
Where it is
Both towns sit north of Tonopah in Nye County, about 250 miles from Las Vegas, a drive of roughly four hours. Belmont sits down a paved but lonely stretch off Highway 376, while Manhattan is 12 miles further on a mostly paved road. A sedan manages both, though gravel side roads near the mines want higher clearance.
What you’ll see
The Belmont Courthouse, a two-story brick building restored as a state historic monument, anchors that townsite alongside a crumbling mill and scattered cabins. Manhattan keeps a working cemetery, an old dredge, and several tilted wooden buildings still standing along its single main street.
Two towns twelve miles apart show you the entire arc of a Nevada mining district, from courthouse to collapse.
Historical highlights
Belmont boomed in the 1860s as a silver district county seat before losing that title to Tonopah. Manhattan followed with a 1905 gold rush and kept limping along into the 1940s.
Good to know before you go
- Both sites are free and unstaffed
- Bring your own water and gas; neither town has services
- Fall and spring beat summer heat here
6. Goodsprings: a saloon frozen in the Old West
Goodsprings closes out this list because it proves you don’t need a long drive to find real Nevada history. It’s still a living community, but the Pioneer Saloon anchors it as one of the most atmospheric stops among any ghost towns near las vegas, and you can easily fold it into an afternoon on your way back from Red Rock Canyon.
Where it is
Goodsprings sits about 45 minutes southwest of Las Vegas, off I-15 near Jean, Nevada. Take State Route 161 west for seven miles and you’re there. The road is fully paved, so a rental sedan gets you in and out without any trouble.
What you’ll see
The Pioneer Saloon, open since 1913, still pours drinks under its original pressed-tin walls and bullet-holed bar. Walk the surrounding streets and you’ll spot old mining ruins, a small cemetery, and weathered wooden buildings tucked among the newer houses.
A saloon still pouring drinks 110 years later is Nevada’s most livable ghost town story.
Historical highlights
Lead and zinc mining built Goodsprings in the early 1900s, and the saloon claims Clark Gable once waited there for news of Carole Lombard’s fatal 1942 plane crash nearby.
Good to know before you go
- The saloon serves food and drinks daily, no reservation needed
- Combine with Red Rock Canyon or the Techatticup Mine for a full day
- Respect that people still live here; it’s not an abandoned site
Where Nevada’s history still lingers
Seven towns, and we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s out there. Nevada’s desert landscape hides more abandoned mining camps than any guidebook can fully capture, and each one tells a different piece of the same story: boom, bust, and the empty buildings left behind. Whether you start with Rhyolite’s skeletal bank or spend an afternoon at the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings, you’re seeing a version of Nevada most visitors never bother to find.
Driving these routes yourself works fine if you’ve got the time and a good map. But if you’d rather skip the guesswork and let someone who knows these back roads handle the details, our guides build custom itineraries around exactly this kind of history. Reach out and let us put together a custom tour that gets you to the ghost towns that matter most to you.
