Ditch the Vegas strip for Nevada Wild West getaway with ghost towns like Western films, alien encounters & famous parks

The Irish Sun

13-07-2025

The spirit of the Old Wild West will never die as long as there are towns like Pioche in Nevada, I can tell you!
This is a little part of
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Ann visited Cathedral Gorge on her Wild West adventure in Nevada
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She also encountered the Extraterrestrial Highway that leads to Area 51
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The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada is a must-visit attraction
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We made our way there after spending a night in
Setting off, our elderly driver, Earl, advised: 'Buckle up, you are in for some ride,' and he wasn't wrong as we set off across the Mojave Desert.
Here we visited ghost towns where the silver miners fought it out with guns on the streets in scenes reminiscent of the old Western movies like High Noon, They Died With Their Boots On, The Gun Fighter and many more.
As I stood on the main street of Pioche I expected to see the tumbleweed coming towards me and the ghosts of those who died by the gun emerging to play out the violent scenes again.
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This once prosperous and thriving silver mining town gained its deadly reputation when the word spread in the 1800s that none of the first 72 people to die there passed away from natural causes.
A visit to this town with its nice friendly community makes it hard to believe that it was once one of the roughest and toughest mining towns in the Old West - attracting thousands of fortune seekers who believed they would hit a rich vein of silver.
This ghost town in Lincoln County - and believe me there are ghosts aplenty here attracting supernatural hunters from all over the world - was one of the highlights of our road trip along the Great Basin Highway.
Having been a fan of the great Western movies since my younger days, I was drawn to exploring the little town.
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And there I found the Overland Hotel and Saloon, which on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures was deemed to have provided some of the most successful interactions with spirits.
So pro tip, if you want to stay there but don't want any interactions with the spirits, avoid room 10, where others have reported doors mysteriously slamming and being awakened from a deep sleep by something supernatural.
Beneath The Strip
This was the town where the gunslingers let their guns do the talking because there was no law and order - life was cheap and the many saloons all led to the lawlessness for which Pioche became famous.
As a reporter who covers courts, I was fascinated by the Million Dollar Courthouse where many of those caught ended up.
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Boothill Cemetery also exists to this day with some fascinating headstones - including one stating that the occupant of the grave was shot in an argument over a dog.
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The Million Dollar Courthouse building is now a museum
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There are several State parks across the area to visit
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Ann laid her eyes on the 4,000 year old Petroglyphs etched into rock in the Valley of Fire
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The Overland Hotel and Saloon featured on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventure
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If it's phenomena of a different kind you want, we swapped ghosts for aliens.
The mysterious Area 51 is synonymous with tales of
We even stopped under the sign to see if our presence could attract even the smallest of spaceships, but alas it was not to be.
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You may not automatically think of Las Vegas,
'THIS IS A PLACE FOR EXPLORING'
It gets its name from the way the sandstone formations combine to give an image of a valley on fire.
When you stand and gaze at so many different shapes and sizes of rock formations and realise you are looking at 150 million years in time with the maze of canyons, domes, ridges and towers carved from sand deposited back when dinosaurs walked the earth, it is truly awesome.
As we joined the queue to gain entry I was very taken with the sign which said 'Heat warning. You might die.'
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And seeing as it was late May, we were very lucky that the heat was not overwhelming, meaning we could spending hours there.
When it is too hot, the park can often close, which happened the day after we visited.
But be warned. Do not venture alone as people have been known to get lost and some have died.
CROWN JEWEL
Among the State Parks clustered around the towns of Caliente and Pioche is Cathedral Gorge, which many regard as one of the State's crown jewel.
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This is thanks to spectacular slot canyons, spires, and other erosional features.
This is a place for exploring and is a hiker's paradise, which was once completely underwater.
As we drove along the highway with the Mojave Desert as our backdrop, we passed amazing sand dunes and forests of Joshua trees, but even more fascinating is the number of farms along the route, something you wouldn't expect in the dry desert.
It is truly nature's beauty in its very rawest form.
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An interesting fact about the Joshua trees, apart from the
GO: NEVADA
GET THERE: I flew with Aer Lingus to Las Vegas, who operate a seasonal service three times weekly from October to May with prices starting at €450 return
STAY THERE: Stay in Prospector Hotel and Gambling Hall in Ely, a really unique and very Wild West hotel for €112 for two sharing a room.
EAT THERE: Dining out was not a gourmet experience and very often it was grab-and-go at gas stops. But the Historic Silver Cafe in Pioche provided good food and great service.
MORE INFO: Visit TravelNevada.com to find out more info on the US state.
Then we went to the Great Basin National Park which stretches from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Mountains.
They say 'half the park is after dark', the reason being that this is designated an International Dark Sky Park by DarkSky, and has its own amphitheatre for looking at the most amazing star-filled skies.
I was just blown away by the sight of so many stars against the very black backdrop and could never have imagined the sheer beauty and magnificence I was viewing.
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In the park, too, are some of the oldest living trees on Earth. The ancient Bristlecone pine groves throughout are believed to be almost 5,000 years old.
The best place to see these ancient trees is along the Bristlecone Trail, which is accessed from the Wheeler Peak Campground.
MUST-VISIT SPOT
And you just can't leave the park without a visit to the Lehman Caves, with marble roofs and limestone formations.
This is Nevada's largest cave system, but remember you must book in advance as visits require guides.
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There was so much crammed into our trip, like the scenic drive up Wheeler Peak, or popping into towns like Ely, home to railroad museums and beautiful murals.
One thing is for sure, it made me see a whole new world in Nevada away from the slots and the lights of the city.
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Eroded sandstone cliffs are visable at Cathedral Gorge State Park
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Visitors might even bump into an alien around the state, just like Ann did
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There is plenty to see away from the bright lights of the Vegas strip when visiting Nevada
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