6 Abandoned Places In Nevada That Are As Creepy As They Are Beautiful

Nevada’s vast desert landscape hides eerie remnants of boom-and-bust mining towns that once thrived with life and prosperity.

I’ve always been fascinated by these forgotten places where nature slowly reclaims what humans left behind.

During my road trips across the Silver State, I’ve encountered abandoned buildings with crumbling walls that whisper stories of the past, creating an atmosphere that’s simultaneously haunting and mesmerizing.

1. Rhyolite: The Ghost Town That Vanished Almost Overnight

Standing in the shadow of Rhyolite’s crumbling bank building last summer sent shivers down my spine! This once-booming gold mining town near Valley flourished briefly from 1905 to 1911 before its dramatic collapse.

The remains of the three-story bank, school, and train station create a hauntingly beautiful silhouette against the desert sky. What makes this place extra bizarre is the outdoor sculpture garden nearby featuring ghostly plaster figures that seem to watch you explore.

The town’s rapid rise and fall mirrors many Nevada mining communities—from 10,000 residents to nearly zero in just a few years. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of the still-standing jail, as if waiting for prisoners who left a century ago.

2. Gold Point: A Time Capsule Frozen In The 1940s

Tumbleweeds rolled past my feet as I wandered through Gold Point, giving me the strange feeling I’d stumbled onto a Western movie set. Unlike many ghost towns that completely collapsed, Gold Point stands in suspended animation—a quirky time capsule of the 1940s.

Weathered wooden buildings line the unpaved main street, their faded signs advertising businesses long closed. The old post office still contains dusty mail slots, while the saloon sports vintage bottles on sagging shelves.

My favorite discovery was a garage housing vintage vehicles slowly rusting away, their once-gleaming chrome now dulled by decades of desert dust. The town occasionally hosts a handful of modern residents who serve as unofficial caretakers, preserving this slice of Nevada’s mining heritage.

3. Jarbidge: The Remote Mountain Town That Refuses To Fade

“You’re actually going to Jarbidge?” The gas station attendant looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned my destination. Located in Nevada’s northeastern corner, this remote former gold mining town sits tucked within a canyon so isolated that it hosted America’s last stagecoach robbery in 1916!

Unlike completely abandoned towns, Jarbidge exists in a fascinating limbo—a handful of year-round residents maintain a tenuous grip alongside numerous abandoned structures slowly returning to the earth. Dilapidated cabins with collapsed roofs stand next to occasionally inhabited buildings.

What struck me most was the town’s cemetery, where headstones dating back to the early 1900s tell tales of mining accidents, harsh winters, and frontier justice. The surrounding wilderness adds to the eerie beauty—dense forests and mountains rather than the typical Nevada desert.

4. Ruby City: Nature’s Reclamation Project

Crunching through sagebrush, I nearly tripped over what was once someone’s front doorstep! Ruby City exemplifies nature’s determination to erase human presence. This forgotten settlement in Elko County has almost completely returned to wilderness, with only scattered stone foundations and the occasional crumbling wall marking where buildings once stood.

Founded in the 1870s during a silver rush, Ruby City briefly rivaled nearby towns before being abandoned when the mines dried up. The most intact remaining structure is a partial stone wall from what locals claim was the assayer’s office.

My exploration revealed unexpected treasures—fragments of blue glass bottles, rusted metal implements, and even a barely discernible wagon wheel half-buried in the dirt. Ruby City feels less like a ghost town and more like an archaeological site slowly revealing its secrets.

5. Unionville: Mark Twain’s Forgotten Mining Experiment

“Ha! Mark Twain lived HERE?” I laughed out loud when I discovered that Samuel Clemens once tried his hand at mining in this remote canyon. Unionville’s stone and wooden ruins scattered throughout Buena Vista Canyon create a photographer’s paradise where history and natural beauty collide.

Founded in 1861 during a silver boom, Unionville once boasted 1,500 residents including a young Clemens, who humorously documented his failed mining career here. Today, the remaining structures include stone walls, a schoolhouse foundation, and several remarkably intact cabins.

The creek running through the canyon adds an unexpected lushness to the landscape, with cottonwood trees providing shade for the crumbling buildings. Unlike many Nevada ghost towns located in barren deserts, Unionville’s setting feels almost pastoral—until you notice the abandoned mine entrances dotting the hillsides like dark, watching eyes.

6. St. Thomas: The Town That Drowned

Mud squelched between my toes as I explored St. Thomas—the ghost town that spent most of its afterlife underwater! For decades, this Mormon settlement remained hidden beneath the reservoir’s surface. Climate change and drought have dramatically lowered water levels, revealing the town’s foundations, chimneys, and even parts of the old road system. Walking through these emerging ruins feels surreal—like exploring Atlantis in the desert.

The most striking feature is the stark white contrast between the structures and the bathtub ring of mineral deposits marking the lake’s former level. Fish bones mingle with broken pottery fragments, creating an archaeological site unlike any other ghost town in Nevada.