Ghost-Towning Nevada

On our ride to and from the Beartooth Rendezvous in Montana, club member and riding buddy Gene Austin and I took some time to explore a few Nevada ghost towns on our ‘GSes.  In our travels, we found some of these old settlements to be still inhabited and very well preserved.  In some we found the ghosts dispossessed, and the site re-opened by huge mining operations with hundreds of employees on the site.  Other sites turned out to be nothing more than a name on a map with an all-but-forgotten past.

Not long after the discovery of gold in California in 1848, hordes of miners and suppliers spilled over into Nevada.  California has its own ghost-towns from the ‘49er days, and many of them are still inhabited or preserved as historical monuments – Coloma comes to mind on the west slope of the Sierras, and Bodie in the eastern Sierra.

Nevada on the other hand, is more remote, and its ghost towns present some interesting destinations for riders on GS type motorcycles.  Our goal was to retrace the paths of these early miners, and explore the towns they created and mines they worked - sort of like “modern day ‘49ers”.

The road to Berlin Ghost Town, Nevada

We left Placerville and headed east up Mormon Immigrant Trail, over Carson and Monitor passes, and out Nevada 208 to a favorite breakfast stop – Rosie’s Cantina in Wellington NV - then over to US 95, past Walker Lake to Nevada 361.  We were headed for the three neighboring ghost town sites of Berlin, Grantsville and Ione located just east of Gabbs, NV. 

Well preserved Ghost Town of Berlin, Nevada

If you find yourself low on gas near Gabbs, go into town and find the gas station.  It will be closed.  Walk across the street to the grocery store, and the woman at the counter will be happy to open the pump. 

Berlin is a well-preserved site with historical placards and park ranger. In fact, together with the Ichthyosaur fossil discovery, it’s a state park, and  the overnight camping here is great.

I’ve read that the northern part of Nevada was once covered by a huge inland sea during the last glacial period.  Called Lake Lahontan, it covered 8,500 square miles.  The fossils of huge prehistoric waterborne dinosaurs called Ichthyosaurs were discovered by the early miners, and are now located in the park.  These fossils present geological evidence of prehistoric Lake Lahontan. 

We left Berlin on the dirt road heading north to Ione, which claims a population of, “Around 10”.  One wonders what the heck people do out here.  I didn’t even see any power lines coming into town.







Reese River valley south of Austin, Nevada

 It’s a fast dirt road through the upper Reese River valley for the 40 or so miles to Austin.  Austin has its own ghost town past, but today, it has comfortable cheap motels, friendly people and good food at the International Café.

Our return route from the Rendezvous brought us back through northern Nevada and more ghost towns.  We came through Owyhee NV, where we picked up a fantastic dirt road heading south

Transportation in Tuscarora Ghost Town, Nevada

  
towards Chicken Creek Summit and the Ghost town of Tuscarora, Nevada.  This little gem is the site of an old smelter with the remains of a huge brick chimney.  We got a feel for the hardships of the early settlers of this town – mostly immigrants – by walking through the graveyard and reading their epitaphs.

After a short ride west on I-80, we stopped for lunch in Carlin.  Here we came across a group of BMW GS riders from Quebec.  How anyone can ride a GS across the western U.S., and keep their clothes and motorcycles so clean and shiny remains a mystery to us.



Smelter ruins in Tuscarora, Nevada

 We headed south on NV 306 toward the “ghost towns” of Tenabo and Gold Acres.  Both these sites were a disappointment.  The mines have been re-opened by huge conglomerates with hundreds of employees coming and going from the sites.

The pavement ended at Gold Acres however, and we continued south towards Austin on what appeared as a dirt road on the map, but turned out to be a maze of dirt roads in reality.  I guess a GPS could have helped us.  



Well marked pioneer route - Hastings Cutoff, NV

 After wandering around the desert like members of some lost tribe, we finally came across a ranch house whose “driveway” was actually the main dirt road to Austin that we’d been seeking.  The cowboys at the ranch house got us pointed in the right direction.  Now, if we were using GPSes, we may have never met up with these good ole’ boys!

We made our way back to Austin before dark, and got one of those cheap comfortable motel rooms, dinner at the “International”, and beers and conversation with some local characters in the 1850’s era bar.

This was our last night on the road on this trip.  Sure, we had some mechanical problems, and we got lost, and we were tired.  But isn't that what one would expect from “modern-day ‘49ers”?

Tom “Tuco” Harris (August, 2009)

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