7 Most Unconventional Towns In Nevada
Ever wondered where in Nevada you can find towns that break the mold? Encompassed by the Great Basin, Nevada is home to great deserts, serrated mountains, and former mining towns. The state's past is inextricably bound to the 19th-century silver and gold rushes, which created boomtowns that have since developed in interesting ways. While many have become ghost towns, others have embraced their eccentricities, blending history with the unusual. From a town that races outhouses to one with a forest of half-buried cars, these seven unusual destinations showcase the weird side of Nevada. Pack your bags and hit the road to experience something different.
Virginia City
This town still has a Wild West spirit. What truly sets Virginia City apart is the World Championship Outhouse Races, a bizarre event where competitors race specially designed outhouses down the street. It began when the city outlawed outdoor toilets, and in protest, it became an annual celebration.
The Silver Terrace Cemeteries offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the miners in the 19th century, with decorated tombstones standing out against the rough hills in the background. The Fourth Ward School Museum, built in 1876, is one of the last four-story wooden schoolhouses in the US and contains the town's history. Piper's Opera House, once an ornate theater for traveling performers, continues to host concerts and plays.
Tonopah
A onetime prosperous mining boomtown, Tonopah blends rich heritage with paranormal legend and eccentricities. Its weirdest attraction is the Clown Motel, a roadside motel filled with thousands of clown figurines—next to an old cemetery. Horror enthusiasts and ghost hunters visit its spooky atmosphere in droves, making it one of the strangest places to spend the night in the state.
Also, The Mizpah Hotel, once Nevada's tallest building, is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of an unidentified "Lady in Red." The Tonopah Historic Mining Park preserves abandoned shafts, looming headframes, and artifacts of the town's early 1900s silver boom. The Central Nevada Museum delves deeper into the area's wild past with exhibits on miners, outlaws, and pioneers. Beyond its history, the Crescent Sand Dunes offer a stunning natural escape outside town, with windswept dunes perfect for hiking and photography.
Goodsprings
A leftover from the Old West, Goodsprings is rife with stories of outlaws, Hollywood royalty, and paranormal phenomena. The Pioneer Saloon’s bullet-riddled walls tell a grisly tale of a deadly poker game, the original coroner's letter still hanging. But its most famous story is that of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, forever intertwined with the saloon's history. After Lombard’s deadly plane crash in 1942, Gable waited here for news of her fate, nervously pacing the floors. Visitors today can step into the Clark Gable and Carole Lombard Room, a commemorative room honoring this tragic Hollywood event. Many think her spirit never left, with whispers and dark apparitions periodically seen.
Beyond its spooky reputation, Goodsprings is surrounded by the Spring Mountains, offering dramatic desert-meets-mountain landscapes. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is just nearby, with its dramatic red sandstone peaks, winding hiking trails, and panoramic views that leave you gasping.
Austin
Austin sits along US Route 50, the "Loneliest Road in America," offering a glimpse into Nevada’s wild and woolly history. Stokes Castle, a three-story stone tower, was built in 1897 as a summer residence for a wealthy mining baron. As lavish as it was, the family used it for only a month before abandoning it, returning only sporadically throughout the year. Today, it remains a hauntingly beautiful landmark, overlooking the Reese River Valley as a reminder of Austin's silver mining boom. St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, built in 1866, is Nevada's oldest Catholic church, with beautiful Gothic Revival architecture.
Just out of town, Toquima Cave protects a stunning collection of prehistoric petroglyphs left by the Western Shoshone residents. Unlike the majority of boomtowns that vanished into thin air, Austin has endured thanks to Spencer Hot Springs, a group of natural geothermal pools churning in the middle of the high desert.
Beatty
This town is more than a pit stop on the way to Death Valley; it is a treasure trove of surrealist art and history. The Beatty Museum and Historical Society contains the town's history in artifacts, photographs, and mining equipment, offering a glimpse into life during the mining boom of the early 20th century. Just outside of town, Rhyolite Ghost Town is one of Nevada's most famous ghost towns, and the ruins of buildings like the Cook Bank Building, with its three-story height, add to the town's haunting beauty.
Yet what truly distinguishes Beatty is the Goldwell Open Air Museum, a bizarre desert art installation of seven massive sculptures. Most famous is Albert Szukalski’s "The Last Supper," a ghostly, life-sized recreation of da Vinci’s painting, set against the backdrop of the wide Nevada desert. With ghostly white figures towering over the ruins of an actual ghost town, this unearthly juxtaposition of art and history makes Beatty one of the weirdest places in the state.
Pioche
A town built on corruption, violence, and lingering spirits, Pioche refuses to let its Wild West past fade. The Overland Hotel and Saloon has been around for more than a century, but some claim not all guests have checked out. Visitors and staff report strange whispers, objects moving on their own, and inexplicable footsteps. Ghost Adventures from The Travel Channel investigated the hotel’s ghostly activity in 2014 and broadcasted their results. Guests can even request a room "free of activity" upon check-in, the hotel’s website says.
Pioche’s rowdy past is still visible around town. The Million Dollar Courthouse, built in 1872, ballooned into financial disaster, with the cost soaring from $26,000 to nearly $1 million due to corruption. Overlooking the town, the Aerial Tramway still hangs rusted ore buckets, which once transported silver and nickel. Boot Hill Cemetery is the final resting place for outlaws who met their ends violently, while The Lincoln County Museum contains mining equipment, records, and firearms from Pioche’s wild days. What truly sets the town apart is its Labor Day Festival, where mining competitions, shootout reenactments, and parades bring back the Wild West.
Goldfield
Goldfield, once Nevada's largest city, is a shadow of its former self. The Goldfield Hotel is one of the most haunted structures in America and draws paranormal investigators from around the world. The 1907 Esmeralda County Courthouse remains a testament to the town's past glory. Historic ruins like the John S. Cook & Co. Bank Building, a former financial hub, and the remnants of other structures in the Nixon and Wingfield Block add to the town's ghost town charm.
The strangest attraction in Goldfield is the International Car Forest of the Last Church. This massive art installation features dozens of cars, trucks, and vans buried nose-first in the desert and decorated with wild graffiti.
Nevada's small towns will not blend into the background, each celebrating their eccentricities in ways that make them stand out. From Goldfield and Pioche's haunted hotels to Tonopah's frightening Clown Motel, the paranormal permeates these old outposts. Goodsprings and Virginia City keep the Wild West alive with gunfights, saloons, and ghost stories, while Beatty's desert art installations turn abandoned landscapes into open-air galleries. Austin, tucked away along the Loneliest Road in America, surprises travelers with ancient petroglyphs, ruined castles, and natural hot springs. From Goldfield's car graveyard to Pioche's lawless past, these offbeat spots expose Nevada's wilder, weirder side.
