Category Archives: recreation

Rhyolite

January 15, 2025humor, informational, national parks, personal, photograph, presentation, recreation, scenic, travelDeath Valley, ghost towns, Nevada, quartz, RhyoliteArnie

Places that you may never have heard of

I’m a dyed in the wool traveler. In my travels I sometimes run across a place that bears a “funny” name – a place that has an unfamiliar moniker.

Not long ago after taking in the scenic wonders of Death Valley National Park I pointed the rental auto towards my destination: Las Vegas

Shortly thereafter I encountered one of the places with a strange name.

I turned onto a side road and followed it a couple of miles to find a ghost town. Judging from the many weathered foundations here, Rhyolite must have been fairly active years ago.

The Overbury Bldg opened in 1905 housed offices.

The Rhyolite schoolhouse built about 1910 for 250 children

The Cook Bank was first occupied in 1907.

An artistic silhouette of miners at work

When I returned home I spent a few minutes to find out the history of Rhyolite.

The rhyolite mineral is a volcanic substance containing quartz. About 1904 rhyolite was discovered in the area and a large number of prospectors moved to the area in hopes to strike it rich. When electricity came to Rhyolite a large mill was built to mine and process the ore. But the 1907 financial panic soon affected the town, businesses and residents. The mines and mill slowed production and workers left. By 1916 the town was effectively shut down.

If you’re interested you can visit this ghost town by driving from Las Vegas to Beatty, NV and then driving on NV-374 west about four miles.

Still Interested?

Here are a few more places that you may never have heard of –

Argenta, Nevada
Aragonite, Utah
Dunphy, Nevada
Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Wamsutter, Wyoming

Beowawe

November 16, 2024informational, nature, personal, photograph, recreation, scenic, travelBeowawe, geyser, interstate, Nevada, Whilrwind ValleyArnie

Places that you may never have heard of

I’ve made countless cross country trips by car usually traveling our Interstate Highway system. When I pass by a “strange” name, I’ll jot the name down and do some research on the place when I return home.

One of these places is Beowawe.

Bewawe is located in eastern Nevada a few miles south of Interstate 80.

Some say that its name is derived from the Paiute language who inhabited the area and means gate. But there are several other interesting and humorous tales about the origin of the town’s name which you can read here.

In the late 1800s, nearby mining operations sent the ore to Beowawe for shipment by rail. The railroad also brought supplies for the ranching operations. For decades it remained a small town to support the nearby ranching industry.

During the 1940s and 1950s several visits by the USGS to examine the hot springs and geysers in the Whirlwind Valley area where Beowawe is located. Researcher Nell Murbarger discovered that this “remote pocket in the mountains of north central Nevada with a colorful terrace and boiling pools provide an amazing spectacle for the few people who venture over the treacherous road that leads to this spot.”

Geyser Field in Whirlwind Valley, Bewawe – Photo Credit: Oleh Melnyk, 1978

In the late 1950s tests were conducted to determine if these natural hydrothermal features were capable of generating electrical power. Consequently a plant was built to capture the hot water and steam. Unfortunately the geysers of Whirlwind Valley disappeared with the plant’s construction.