Nevada is best known for Las Vegas, where visitors come for casinos, nightlife, luxury hotels, and decadent food. But just outside the city, you can also find old mining camps, abandoned settlements, historic saloons, and desert towns that still feel connected to the Wild West.
Some ghost towns near Las Vegas are easy day trips, like Goodsprings, Nelson, and St. Thomas. Others, like Rhyolite, Pioche, and Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, require a longer drive but reward you with some of Nevada’s best preserved mining history.
Although these places are often called ghost towns, not all of them are completely abandoned. Some are living historic communities, some are protected public sites, and some are privately managed attractions. Always respect posted signs, stay out of unsafe structures, and check current hours before driving into the desert.
Interested in visiting a ghost town near Las Vegas? These are the best eerie, historic, and photo-worthy ghost towns to add to your Nevada road trip.
Why Are There So Many Ghost Towns Near Las Vegas?
Nevada is sometimes called the “Silver State” because of its rich mining history. In the 1800s and early 1900s, mining booms created towns almost overnight as prospectors searched for silver, gold, copper, lead, and other minerals.
These boom towns often had homes, hotels, saloons, schools, stores, mills, and rail connections. When the mines slowed down, closed, or became unprofitable, many residents moved on to the next opportunity. What remained were abandoned buildings, mine ruins, cemeteries, old roads, and stories from the Wild West.
Nevada has hundreds of ghost towns and historic mining camps. Some are preserved as public attractions, while others are fragile ruins in remote desert areas. The best ones near Las Vegas make excellent side trips if you want a break from the Strip and a deeper look at Nevada history.
Best Ghost Towns Near Las Vegas
1. Rhyolite
Rhyolite is one of the most photographed ghost towns in Nevada. Located near Beatty, just outside Death Valley National Park, it is about 120 miles from Las Vegas and works well as a long day trip or a stop on the way to Death Valley.
The town grew quickly after gold was discovered in the Bullfrog Mining District in 1904. By 1907, Rhyolite had become a true boomtown with banks, hotels, stores, a school, electricity, water mains, newspapers, and a railroad connection. But the boom did not last. By the early 1910s, mining slowed, businesses closed, and residents began leaving.
Today, Rhyolite is a public historic area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is a day-use site, and visitors can walk around the ruins while viewing famous structures such as the Cook Bank Building, the train depot, the schoolhouse, and the Tom Kelly Bottle House.
The Tom Kelly Bottle House is one of Rhyolite’s most famous landmarks. Built from thousands of glass bottles, it shows how residents reused available materials in a remote desert mining town.
Rhyolite is also home to the nearby Goldwell Open Air Museum. One of its most recognizable art installations is Albert Szukalski’s “The Last Supper,” a collection of ghost-like figures that has become one of the most iconic photo stops in the area.
If you want a true abandoned-town feeling without needing a guided tour, Rhyolite is one of the best ghost towns near Las Vegas.
2. Goodsprings
Goodsprings is one of the easiest ghost town-style trips from Las Vegas. It is only about 25 miles from the south end of the city, making it a realistic half-day outing if you want a taste of the Old West without a long drive.
Goodsprings was once an important mining district, with gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead helping shape the community. Unlike some ghost towns, Goodsprings is not fully abandoned. It is a small living community with old mining history, desert scenery, and one very famous saloon.
The most interesting stop is the Pioneer Saloon, which was established in 1913 and is often described as the oldest bar in Southern Nevada. The saloon still serves food and drinks, including beer, burgers, and barbecue, and it remains one of the best preserved Old West bar experiences near Las Vegas.
Inside, you will find historic details, ghost stories, local legends, and a connection to Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The saloon is also popular with road-trippers, motorcyclists, ghost hunters, Fallout: New Vegas fans, and visitors looking for a low-key desert escape.
Goodsprings is a great choice if you want history, food, drinks, and atmosphere without committing to a remote or difficult desert drive.
3. Nelson and Eldorado Canyon
Nelson is one of the most popular ghost town trips from Las Vegas because it is close, photogenic, and easy to combine with a mine tour. The area is about 45 minutes from the Strip and is best known for Eldorado Canyon and the Techatticup Mine.
The area was originally tied to the old mining camp of Eldorado Canyon, one of the richest and roughest mining areas in Southern Nevada. Techatticup Mine was the most famous mine in the district and produced gold, silver, copper, and lead.
Today, many visitors refer to the attraction as Nelson Ghost Town, though the main tourist area is privately managed by Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours. It is full of old vehicles, weathered buildings, mining equipment, rustic signs, and desert photo backdrops.
You can book a guided tour of Techatticup Mine, which usually runs at 9 am, 12 pm, and 2 pm when there are enough adults and reservations are made in advance. The walking tour is about a quarter mile and lasts around 90 minutes.
Nelson is one of the best options if you want a ghost town that is easy to photograph and structured enough for visitors. Just remember that the property is not an abandoned free-for-all. Tours and photo shoots have rules, and reservations are required for the mine.
4. St. Thomas
St. Thomas is different from most Nevada ghost towns because it was not simply abandoned after a mining bust. It was flooded by Lake Mead after the construction of Hoover Dam, then reappeared when water levels dropped.
The town was founded in 1865 by Mormon settlers and later became a stop along regional travel routes. When Hoover Dam was built and Lake Mead began filling in the 1930s, St. Thomas was eventually covered by water. For decades, it was hidden beneath the reservoir.
Today, the ruins are visible again inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Visitors can hike through the old townsite and see building foundations, walls, steps, and other remains of a community that was once underwater.
This is one of the most unusual ghost towns near Las Vegas because the story is tied to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and changing water levels. It feels less like a classic mining town and more like a lost settlement slowly revealed by the desert.
The hike can be hot and exposed, so bring water, sun protection, and sturdy shoes. Avoid walking on fragile ruins or disturbing anything at the site.
5. Pioche
If you want a ghost town with more services, history, and small-town life, Pioche is worth considering. It is often called “Nevada’s liveliest ghost town” because it still has residents, lodging, food, historic attractions, and nearby state parks.
Pioche is about three hours from Las Vegas, so it is better as a full-day road trip or part of a longer southeastern Nevada itinerary. It is not as close as Goodsprings, Nelson, or St. Thomas, but it offers a much deeper Old West experience.
In the 1870s, Pioche had a reputation as one of the roughest and most violent mining towns in the West. Silver mining brought money, conflict, lawsuits, and gunfights. Local legends say the town had dozens of violent deaths before anyone died of natural causes.
Today, the town’s main attractions include the Million Dollar Courthouse, Boot Hill Cemetery, Thompson’s Opera House, the old aerial tramway, historic buildings, and scenic drives near several state parks.
Pioche is not a silent abandoned ruin. It is better described as a living historic town with ghost-town character. Choose it if you want museums, saloons, cemeteries, old buildings, and more infrastructure than a remote desert site.
6. Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park
Berlin is one of Nevada’s best preserved ghost towns, but it is not a quick Las Vegas side trip. It is much farther north than the other towns on this list, so it is best for serious road-trippers, history fans, or travelers building a longer Nevada itinerary.
The town grew during a mining boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Mining declined by the early 20th century, and Berlin was eventually abandoned. Today, the remaining buildings are protected inside Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.
What makes Berlin unique is that the park combines mining history with prehistoric fossils. The nearby fossil shelter protects the remains of ichthyosaurs, giant marine reptiles that lived millions of years ago when Nevada was covered by ancient seas.
Visitors can walk through the ghost town, see old buildings, explore the cemetery, camp at the park, and take seasonal tours of the fossil shelter. Fossil House tours are usually offered at 10 am and 2 pm during the non-winter tour season, with more frequent tours in summer.
Berlin is worth the effort if you want one of Nevada’s most interesting combinations of ghost town ruins and natural history. Just plan carefully because it is remote, and winter weather or long driving distances can make the trip more challenging.
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Which Ghost Town Near Las Vegas Should You Visit?
If you only have a few hours, choose Goodsprings or Nelson. Goodsprings is best for the Pioneer Saloon, food, drinks, and Old West atmosphere. Nelson is best for photos, desert scenery, and the Techatticup Mine tour.
If you are visiting Lake Mead or Valley of Fire, add St. Thomas. It is one of the most unusual ghost towns in Nevada because it was once underwater.
If you are driving toward Death Valley, choose Rhyolite. It is one of the most iconic and photogenic ghost towns in the state.
If you want a longer history road trip, choose Pioche. If you want a remote Nevada adventure with fossils and mining ruins, choose Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.
Conclusion
There’s nothing quite like the lights, nightlife, hotels, and restaurants of Las Vegas. But if you need a break from the Strip, a ghost town side trip is one of the best ways to experience Nevada’s mining history and desert landscapes.
You can sip a beer at a historic saloon in Goodsprings, tour an old mine in Nelson, walk through the exposed ruins of St. Thomas, photograph the crumbling buildings of Rhyolite, explore Pioche’s Wild West history, or combine ghost town ruins with ancient fossils at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.
Las Vegas may be the highlight of your trip, but these ghost towns show a very different side of Nevada.