Rhyolite Ghost Town: 5 photo spots you shouldn't miss
During a road trip I visited Rhyolite, Nevada, a long abandoned ghost town. The ghost town of Rhyolite was a booming mining town during the gold rush that went from boom to bust within a decade.
Rhyolite, Nevada, is one most famous ghost towns you'll find in or near Death Valley. It's located in the Bullfrog hills near Beatty, roughly 2.5 hours by car from Las Vegas. In this blog post, I'll tell you little bit about the history of this Death Valley ghost town.
Table of Contents
- Frequently asked questions about Rhyolite
- Things to do in Rhyolite, Nevada
- How I took the pictures of Rhyolite
- Is Rhyolite worth a visit?
Frequently asked questions about Rhyolite, Nevada
Before I adress the frequently asked questions, here are three words of friendly advice before you visit Rhyolite:
- The ghost town of Rhyolite is in Death Valley. It can get quite hot there during summer. And I mean hot in the sense of dangerously hot. So be sure to bring some water.
- Beware of Rattlesnakes in Rhyolite.
- There's no cell phone coverage there
How much is the entrance fee for Rhyolite, Nevada?
In 2015 you could visit Rhyolite freely. There was no entrance free.
What's the location of Rhyolite, NV?
Rhyolite is located in Death Valles about 2.5 hours by car from Las Vegas. So it's best to add a visit to the Rhyolite Ghost Town to your bucket list if you either plan a trip to Death Valley or to spend a few days in Las Vegas.
To get to Rhyolite from Las Vegas, take highway 95 eastbound towards Reno and Tonopah. In Beatty, turn left onto road 374 and turn right after 4 miles. Continue about 1.8 miles you the first photo spot you should see is Tom Kelly's Bottle House on the right.
For your convenience, here's Rhyolite on Apple Maps and on Google Maps.
What's the population of Rhyolite?
In 2015 the population of Rhyolite is zero souls. Abandonment of Rhyolite began between 1906 and 1907. By 1910 the census reported 675 inhabitants in Rhyolite. When the last train station ceased operation in 1913 and electricity was turned off in 1914, only a handful souls lived in Rhyolite. There's a legend that in 1922, a 92 year old man still lived in Rhyolite. When he died shortly after, Rhyolite became a true ghost town.
Which movies were filmed in Rhyolite?
Rhyolite and the ruins of the former cook bank were used as a filming location in a few films, most notably in The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, and Ultraviolet, starring Milla Jovovich.
You can briefly see the ruins of the Cook Bank building in the following trailer of The Island at 0:33.
Side Note: If you know the 1976 Sci-Fi movie Logan's Run, then the plot of the movie The Island may look familiar.
Check your Apple TV to watch the movie The Island starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.Why is Rhyolite, Nevada, a ghost town?
Rhyolite shares the fate of many other cities of the gold rush From boom to bust within a few years. As the story goes, Rhyolite was founded in 1904, when two prospectors discovered gold on a hill in Death Valley, Nevada. The hill and the entire district became later known as the bullfrog mining district.
Word about the gold strike got around fast. Within a few weeks, more than one thousand prospectors arrived and established many camps in the area. One of the camps grew to the city of Rhyolite.
But as soon as of 1908 it was suspected that the mine was overvalued and a mining engineer was hired to inspect the mine. The result was as the miners suspected. The gold mine was overvalued. This was the beginning of the end of Rhyolite.
Things to do in Rhyolite, Nevada
There are a lot of things to do in Rhyolite, Nevada like taking stunning photos of the abandoned and decayed buildings. And I recommend to start at the Proper Brothers Store right at the beginning of Rhyolite.
The Porter Brothers Store
In 1905, the Porter brothers opened a merchant store right across the street from the cook bank. In September 2014, a lightning strike hit this historic building and destroyed it almost completely. Only the stone made front facade of the store still stands.
Remains of the Porter Brother Store in Rhyolite
By this time, allegedly 5000 people lived in Rhyolite, Nevada.
The Rhyolite, Nevada, Bottle House
In 1905, Tom Kelly settled in Rhyolite and built a house from more than 50.000 bottles collected from the 50 saloons in Rhyolite. Allegedly he used the bottles because he couldn't find any suitable material to construct a house. The Bottle House is one of the iconic photo spots in Rhyolite.
Tom Kelly’s bottle house in Rhyolite
Abandoned classic Car
Right next to the Bottle House, you'll also discover an abandoned car. I'm not very good at identifying old vehicles, but please sound off in the comments if any of my readers can identify it. The building on hill to the left is the former school of Rhyolite.
Old car in Rhyolite
The Cook Bank building in Rhyolite, Nevada
Another iconic photo spot is the remains of the former cook bank that was one of the most modern buildings in Rhyolite. It was made of stone and had electric lights, marble stairs, and other luxuries.
Ruins of the Cook Bank in Rhyolite
During my research, I discovered this photo of the Cook Bank Building that dates back to 1908.
Cook Bank Rhyolite 1908
Image Credit: Mark Holloway 1908; Cook Bank Building Rhyolite, Nevada; Digital Image of an analog photograph from Wikipedia; accessed May 16th, 2021; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cook_Bank_Building_1908.jpg.
Soon the prospectors discovered more gold and silver within the bullfrog mining district. One of the most promising mines in the neighborhood was the Montgomery Shoshone mine that the industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought in 1906. He invested heavily in infrastructure. Rhyolite got piped water, railroad transportation, and electric power lines. Only one year later, Rhyolite had paved sidewalks, telephones, a newspaper, a school and hospital, and a bank as well as a stock exchange. One of the most iconic photo spots in Rhyolite is the remains of the former cook bank building.
The railroad station
The railroad depot was the first train station in Rhyolite.
Railroad Depot in Rhyolite, Nevada
After Rhyolite was abandoned, it was used as a casino in the desert that finally closed in the 1970s. Unfortunately, the house is fenced in, and all doors and windows are boarded up. I would have loved to take a peek inside!
Around 1908, investors in the Montgomery Shoshone mine became concerned that the mine was overvalued. It became more and more difficult and expensive to unearth the gold and silver, and by 1910, the mine operated at a loss. Only one year later, the Montgomery Shoshone mine was closed.
Due to the huge number of unemployed miners, the population of Rhyolite dropped to around 1000 within a few weeks. By 1920, the population was close to zero, and Rhyolite became one of the many ghost towns in Nevada.
How I took the pictures of Rhyolite, Nevada
I took the photos of Rhyolite in 2015 with my iPhone 6 Plus. As it was damn hot during my visit, I didn't spend much time composing the photos and took them with the iOS camera app. To see, the camera apps I use today, please ready my blog post about the best iPhone camera apps I recommend.
Is Rhyolite worth a visit?
Rhyolite Ghost town is definitely worth visiting, especially if you're a fan of lost places or want to see a former film set. Just be prepared for the hot and dry climate in the ghost town of Rhyolite.
Another former mining town I recommend to visit is the Bodie State Historic Park or see the other ghost towns or lost places I visited and photographed with iPhone.
