Explore Nevada
& the Backcountry Beyond

More ghost towns than living ones — Nevada's mining boom left thousands of abandoned camps. Start here.

• Nevada Ghost Towns Overview
  TravelNevada's roundup of Rhyolite, Berlin, Fort Churchill & more
• Full List of NV Ghost Towns
  Wikipedia's county-by-county master list
• Top 50 Ghost Towns in Nevada
  Deep-dive guide with history and what remains today
• Complete Ghost Town List
  Peak population, county & primary industry for 50 sites
• NV Ghost Towns & Mining History
  Reference site with reading list and mining-camp archives
• Techatticup Mine, Eldorado Canyon
  Southern NV's oldest, richest gold mine — official overview
• Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours
  Tour booking info for the Techatticup Mine — reservations required
• Techatticup Mine — Atlas Obscura
  History of claim-jumping, murder & the Wild West mine tour
• Nelson, NV Gold Mine Tour
  Roadside America's visit report with directions
• Nevada Oddities Index
  Full state list of roadside attractions, ruins & curiosities
• Guided Eldorado Ghost Town Tour
  For visitors who'd rather not drive the canyon themselves
• Lost City Museum, Overton
  Ancestral Puebloan site & artifacts near Valley of Fire

California's Eastern Sierra and Death Valley, and Arizona's Route 66 corridor, are packed with abandoned camps within a tank of gas.

• Bodie State Historic Park (CA)
  Official page — America's best-preserved "arrested decay" ghost town
• Bodie.com
  Independent visitor resource for Bodie State Historic Park
• Bodie Feature — Visit California
  What to expect on the dusty road in and self-guided tour
• Visiting Bodie — Mono County
  Access road conditions, hours, and seasonal closures
• 8 Ghost Towns in Death Valley
  Rhyolite, Panamint City, Ballarat & more, with access notes
• 5 Great Death Valley Ghost Towns
  Includes Rhyolite, just over the line from Beatty, NV
• Death Valley Ghost Towns Worth the Trek
  Panamint City, Chloride City & the hikes to reach them
• Oatman, Arizona
  Route 66 mining town with free-roaming burros, 28 mi from Laughlin
• 7 Arizona Ghost Towns
  Chloride, Oatman & more — Arizona's oldest inhabited mining camp
• Arizona Ghost Towns Guide
  Broader AZ list including sites near the NV/AZ line

From Valley of Fire's red sandstone to alpine trails above Lake Tahoe — 27 state parks and counting.

• Nevada Division of State Parks
  Official portal — fees, reservations, closures & alerts
• List of Nevada State Parks
  All 27+ units with acreage, county & establishment date
• Nevada State & National Parks
  TravelNevada's curated highlights across the system
• Valley of Fire State Park (official)
  Nevada's oldest & largest park — Fire Wave, White Domes, petroglyphs
• Valley of Fire — Trip Guide
  Camping, seasonal trail closures & photo spots
• Valley of Fire — Background
  Geology and history of the 46,000-acre Aztec Sandstone basin
• Kershaw–Ryan State Park
  Lush canyon oasis near Caliente, in Rainbow Canyon
• Lake Tahoe–Nevada State Park
  14,300 alpine acres along Tahoe's eastern shore
• AllTrails — Nevada State Parks
  Crowd-sourced trail maps, ratings & conditions
• AllTrails — All Nevada Trails
  Statewide trail database, filterable by difficulty & distance
• TravelNevada — Hiking
  Great Basin, Ruby Mountains, Jarbidge Wilderness & more
• Where to Hike When — Nevada
  Region-by-region hiking primer with best-season notes
• 10Adventures — Best Hikes in NV
  Handpicked routes with GPS coordinates

Fifteen minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, 197,000 acres of Mojave Desert managed by the BLM.

• BLM — Red Rock Canyon NCA
  Official program page — reservations, fees & campground info
• BLM — Visit Red Rock Canyon
  Directions, hours & the 13-mile scenic drive
• Southern Nevada Conservancy
  Nonprofit steward — programs, volunteering & trail updates
• AllTrails — Red Rock Canyon Hikes
  30+ miles of trail, from Calico Tanks to Icebox Canyon
• TravelNevada — Red Rock Canyon
  Visitor overview — climbing, horseback riding & picnic spots
• Red Rock Canyon — Background
  Geology of the Keystone Thrust & designation history

Nevada's own Great Basin, plus Death Valley, Zion, Bryce Canyon & Lake Mead — all within a half-day's drive of Vegas.

• Great Basin National Park (NV)
  Wheeler Peak, Lehman Caves & 5,000-year-old bristlecone pines
• Death Valley National Park
  Straddles the CA/NV line — official NPS trip planner
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area
  Shoreline hikes, the historic railroad tunnel trail & St. Thomas ruins
• Zion National Park (UT)
  ~2.5 hrs from Vegas — official park site
• Bryce Canyon National Park (UT)
  Hoodoos, dark skies & the Fairyland and Queen's Garden loops
• Death Valley — Trip Guide
  AAA's practical planning notes for the hottest, lowest park

BLM-designated backcountry byways, OHV trail systems, and rock-crawling destinations across the state.

• Silver State Scenic Byways
  Ten official Nevada road trips, paved and backcountry
• NV Scenic & Backcountry Byways List
  Every designated byway with maps and links
• BLM Nevada — Recreation & Byways
  Official Back Country Byways program, incl. Mt. Wilson & Gold Butte
• Trails Offroad — Nevada Directory
  Trail difficulty ratings, maps & GPS tracks
• Clark County / Las Vegas 4×4 Trails
  Gold Butte, Red Rock backcountry & Lake Mead/Mohave access routes
• Nevada ATV/UTV Trail Maps
  Gold Butte trail-by-trail breakdown incl. open/closed status
• Nevada OHV Program (official)
  Registration, safety checklist & statewide trail listings
• Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway
  Sample official trail page — BLM Las Vegas Field Office
• Top 10 NV Trails Near Southern Utah
  Mormon Mesa, Logandale Trail System & more near the UT line
• Black Rock–High Rock NCA
  Remote NW Nevada playa & emigrant-trail country

The darkest skies in the Lower 48, plus thousand-year-old rock art. Bring a headlamp.

• Explorer's Guide to NV Night Skies
  Great Basin's International Dark Sky Park status & more
• Explore the Dark Skies of Nevada
  Tonopah Star Trails, Gerlach & Great Basin astronomy events
• NV Dark Sky Stargazing Guide
  Where to go and what to bring, via the Las Vegas Sun
• Grimes Point / Hidden Cave
  Self-guided petroglyph trail near Fallon — NV's first National Recreation Trail
• Grimes Point — Background
  1,000+ petroglyphs on desert-varnished basalt boulders
• Extraterrestrial Highway Road Trip
  SR-375, Rachel, the Alien Research Center & Area 51's back gate
• Rachel, NV — Travel Guide
  Wikivoyage's practical guide to the closest town to Area 51
• Cruising the Extraterrestrial Highway
  CNN Travel's drive report on Nevada's alien-country route

Beyond mines and trails — soak in the desert's natural springs or ride a century-old steam locomotive.

• Top 15 Nevada Hot Springs
  Mapped guide from Caliente's soaking rooms to remote BLM springs
• Ultimate Hot Springs Guide — NV
  A-to-Z list with an interactive map
• Spencer Hot Springs
  Central NV's most reliable soak, near Austin — official write-up
• Soaking at Spencer Hot Springs
  First-hand trip report with directions & seasonal tips
• Nevada Northern Railway Museum
  Ride vintage steam locomotives in Ely — National Historic Landmark
• Nevada's Loneliest Road Itinerary
  Sample trip linking Hwy 50, Ely & the Atomic Testing Museum
• Ghost Towns & Aliens Road Trip
  12-night NV/CA loop through Rhyolite, Rachel, Bodie & Calico

Southern Utah's "Mighty 5" corridor is a natural extension of a Nevada trip — a few solid itineraries to borrow from.

• Zion to Bryce Canyon in 3 Days
  Route, timing & side trip to Valley of Fire on the way
• Zion to Bryce Road Trip Guide
  Scenic Byway 12, Losee Canyon & Mossy Cave Trail stops
• Zion to Bryce — Stops to Make
  Belly of the Dragon, slot canyons & drive-time breakdown
• Guide to Bryce Canyon & Zion
  Long-form planning guide covering both parks in depth
• Guided Zion & Bryce Hiking Tour
  For visitors who'd rather join a fully outfitted trip