Rhyolite Railroad Loop & Ghost Town

This easy 4x4 route follows a portion of the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad's standard gauge spur route into Rhyolite, Nevada, the most photographed ghost town in the west. At its peak, nearly 5000 people lived here, one building was 3 stories tall and cost $90,000 to build. A stock exchange and Board of Trade were formed. The red light district drew women from as far away as San Francisco. There were hotels, stores, a school for 250 children, an ice plant, two electric plants, foundries and machine shops and even a miner’s union hospital. You'll cross over grade fills and pass through grade cuts. You'll pass the historic Montgomery-Shoshone Mine site, the old Rhyolite train station that is slowly being restored, and Tom Kelly's bottle house, made of over 50,000 bottles. The other remaining buildings are all concrete hulks as wood is scarce in Nevada, and was reclaimed to help build new facilities somewhere else. Be sure to visit the Goldwell Open Air Museum at Waypoint 7 of the trail guide. The free museum displays old artifacts and modern art, and the last shot in the video was taken there.