Nevada Mining Ruins/Ghost Towns

Reef&Ruins

Colorado Plateau is calling...
Joined
Feb 3, 2017
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Yeah the ruins part of the login name means I like finding old places where people lived (Puebloan, mining, old towns, etc.). One trip option I am pondering for Spring Break this year (mid-March for us on the quarter system) is going to Nevada to look for some more old mining towns, but not Virginia City (once was enough for me there). I've already seen Rhyolite. One I haven't seen but do really want to see is Berlin (part of Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park).
I've poked around here to see if anyone has any suggestions but as from a small mention here or there I'm not finding a lot.
Thanks in advance.
R&R
 
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I should say I have done some Google searches too and I would be interested in people's personal opinions about particular mining ghost town vs another. I have really appreciated people's opinions on various hikes and the like and since I only have a week....
 
Yeah, I found Rhyolite to be a little bit deflating. The bottle house was super cool and it was neat to see, but I have heard lots of good things about Berlin and I'm looking for similar towns. We might make it all the way to DVNP and I have several books (Digonnet and another author) on that area.
 
I've got some new appreciation for Virginia City after reading this book:
Very well researched, written, and a very compelling story. I've now got an interest in re-visiting the town.
 
Yeah the ruins part of the login name means I like finding old places where people lived (Puebloan, mining, old towns, etc.). One trip option I am pondering for Spring Break this year (mid-March for us on the quarter system) is going to Nevada to look for some more old mining towns, but not Virginia City (once was enough for me there). I've already seen Rhyolite. One I haven't seen but do really want to see is Berlin (part of Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park).
I've poked around here to see if anyone has any suggestions but as from a small mention here or there I'm not finding a lot.
Thanks in advance.
R&R
Hey there... so I hiked a nearly 1000 mile "loop" across central Nevada last year(Basin and Range Trail), and came across a few ghost towns you might be interested in. Check out Jefferson, which is in Jefferson Canyon, just outside of Round Mountain, in the Toquima Range. Jefferson had a population of nearly 800 back in the late 1800s. There are many partial buildings left, tons of mining adits, shafts and relics strewn about. With a high clearance vehicle, you should be able to drive to, or near, the Jefferson townsite. There is an upper and lower part of "town". The road is much less passable above the upper part of Jefferson, but there's nothing above it you'd be interested in anyways.

Morey Canyon is another area, in the Hot Creek Range. I'm not sure I would call this a ghost town, but there are several intact cabins here, and lots of old mining activity here to explore.

Check out "Basin and Range Trail" on youtube for videos of these two areas. Both Jefferson and Morey Canyon are along section 3 of the BRT.
 
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