The Lost Burro Mine is one of the best-preserved historic gold mining sites in Death Valley National Park, California. Located in a remote draw at the northern end of the mountain range separating Hidden Valley from Racetrack Valley (near Teakettle Junction in the Ubehebe Mining District), the mine sits in rugged terrain accessible only by high-clearance 4WD vehicles via a rough 1-mile dirt track off the Hidden Valley road.

The Lippincott Mine (also known as the Lead King Mine) is a historic lead-silver mine located in the remote southwestern corner of Racetrack Valley within Death Valley National Park, California. Situated in the Ubehebe Mining District on the ridge separating Racetrack Valley from Saline Valley, the site represents one of the area's more productive small-scale mining operations in the early-to-mid 20th century.

Jackrabbit, Nevada, is a ghost town and former silver mining camp located in Lincoln County, on the eastern slopes of the Bristol Range. Originally named Royal City, the settlement was established in 1876 following the discovery of silver ore and became a modest but active mining community. Known for its colorful origin story and brief periods of prosperity, Jackrabbit’s history reflects the boom-and-bust cycle typical of Nevada’s 19th-century mining towns. This report explores the town’s origins, development, decline, and historical significance, drawing on primary sources, historical markers, and secondary accounts.

The Ubehebe Lead Mine is located just west of theRacetrack Playa Road off of the Bonnie Claire Road.  Discovered in 1906, the mine is located on the west side of the Racetrack valley just south of Teakettle junction.    The site was started as a copper mine and during to coarse of its operation would produce lead, copper, gold and zinc. Ubehebe Trail sign located just off of the Racetrack, Death Valley, CA Early Discovery and Initial Interest (1875–Early 1900s) The deposit was first discovered by copper prospectors in…

Today it is difficult to imagine, but at one time not so long ago, Owens Lake Steamships ferried supplies and silver ore across Owens Lake from the booming silver town of Cerro Gordo, California. Cerro Gordo was a booming silver town located at high elevations in the White Mountains above the tree line. Water and fuel are hauled up the mountain utilizing freight wagons to support the silver mines.

Lake Manly is a rare and ephemeral lake that occasionally forms in Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, located in Death Valley National Park, California. This temporary body of water revives an ancient Pleistocene lake that existed during the Ice Age, when it reached depths of up to 700 feet and stretched nearly 100 miles long.

The Billie Mine (also known as Billie I and Billie II) is a former underground borate mine located in the Furnace Creek Mining District of Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California. Situated on the eastern slopes of the Black Mountains overlooking Death Valley, the mine's surface structures—including the prominent steel headframe, shaft collar, support buildings, and waste rock dumps—are positioned just outside the park boundary along the paved Dante's View Road, approximately 1.5 miles northwest of the historic ghost town of…

Belmont is a historic ghost town in Nye County, central Nevada, located in the Toquima Range along former State Route 82, about 45 miles northeast of Tonopah. Today, it remains a well-preserved "living ghost town" with a handful of residents, restored buildings, and ruins that attract history enthusiasts. The entire town site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and it is Nevada Historical Marker number 138. Belmont in 1871 Discovery and Boom Years (1865–1880s) Silver ore was discovered in the area in 1865…

Doble is a near-forgotten ghost town and mining site located near the dry bed of Baldwin Lake, east of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. It represents a later chapter in the region's mining story, tied to the "second gold rush" of the 1870s. In 1873–1874, brothers Barney and Charlie Carter discovered gold-bearing quartz on a hill overlooking Baldwin Lake (then part of Bear Valley). Word reached millionaire investor Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin, a prominent figure from the Comstock Lode silver boom in Nevada. Baldwin acquired the claims, naming the site the…

In the scorched valleys and rugged passes of the American West, where the Carson River meets the arid expanses of the Great Basin and Owens Valley, the Carson & Colorado Railroad emerged as a lifeline of steel and steam. Incorporated on May 10, 1880, as a narrow-gauge (3 ft or 914 mm) line, this 300-mile artery snaked southward from Mound House, Nevada, to Keeler, California, piercing an unforgiving landscape of sagebrush flats, alkaline lakes, and towering sierras.

Candelaria, located in Mineral County, Nevada, approximately 55 miles south of Hawthorne along U.S. Highway 95, is a classic example of a Nevada silver boomtown that rose rapidly in the late 19th century and faded into a ghost town by the mid-20th century. Situated in the Candelaria Hills at an elevation of about 5,665 feet, the site was dominated by rich silver deposits on the northern slopes of Mount Diablo. Today, the area features remnants of its mining past alongside a modern open-pit operation by Kinross Gold, which restricts public access to much of the historic townsite.

The Colorado River, flowing from the Rocky Mountains through the arid Southwest to the Gulf of California, was a challenging waterway—shallow, swift, and prone to sandbars, floods, and shifting channels. Despite these obstacles, steam-powered vessels played a vital role in its navigation from the mid-19th century until the early 20th century. Primarily operating on the lower Colorado River (from the Gulf of California upstream to areas near modern-day Nevada), steamboats transported military supplies, miners, settlers, and freight, fueling the development of Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of Mexico. They were the most economical means of moving goods across the desert until railroads supplanted them.

In the sun-scorched folds of the Greenwater Range, on the eastern fringe of California's Inyo County, the ghost town of Lila C—also known as Ryan or Old Ryan—whispers tales of the borax boom that briefly animated the desolate Amargosa Valley. Perched at an elevation of 2,562 feet (781 meters) and roughly 6.25 miles (10 km) southwest of Death Valley Junction…

Tucked into the rugged folds of the Bradshaw Mountains in Yavapai County, Arizona, approximately 12 miles southeast of Prescott, lies the ghost town of Big Bug—a relic of the frontier era named for the walnut-sized beetles that swarmed its namesake creek. Established in 1862, Big Bug emerged during the American Civil War as a mining camp spurred by the discovery of gold along Big Bug Creek.

Located against the stark western flanks of Fairview Peak in southeastern Churchill County, Nevada, the ghost town of Fairview stands as a weathered echo of the Silver State's relentless mining fervor. At an elevation of approximately 4,600 feet, amid the basin-and-range topography of the Great Basin Desert, Fairview emerged not as a singular, stable settlement but as a nomadic boomtown that relocated twice in its short life to chase the pulse of silver veins. Born from a 1905 discovery that ignited a frenzy reminiscent of Tonopah and Goldfield, Fairview swelled to a chaotic peak of 2,000 residents by 1907, only to fade into obscurity by the 1920s.

Tucked into the sun-scorched folds of the Singatse Range at the northern edge of Smith Valley, Ludwig stands as a weathered sentinel in Lyon County, Nevada—a ghost town whose pyramid-shaped concrete ruins, etched with enigmatic Egyptian hieroglyphs, whisper tales of copper fever and fleeting prosperity. Founded amid the mineral-rich veins of the Yerington Mining District, Ludwig's story is one of bold prospecting, rail-driven booms, and inexorable decline, emblematic of Nevada's mining heritage. Located approximately 10 miles north of Yerington and 50 miles southeast of Carson City, the site at 38°57'20"N, 119°16'36"W spans arid high-desert terrain where sagebrush clings to alkaline soil and the distant hum of modern gypsum operations echoes the labor of long-gone miners.

At the corner of Allen and Sixth Streets in Tombstone, Arizona, stands a squat, two-story adobe-and-brick building whose faded crimson sign still proclaims “BIRD CAGE THEATRE.” Opened on December 26, 1881, and operating continuously as a theater, saloon, gambling hall, and brothel until 1889, the Bird Cage is the only major structure from Tombstone’s wildest years that has never been gutted by fire, rebuilt, or substantially altered.

Tucked away in the rugged folds of the Pine Nut Mountains in central Lyon County, Nevada, the ghost town of Como stands as a weathered sentinel to the fleeting dreams of the 1860s gold rush. Established amid the feverish prospecting that followed discoveries in the Palmyra Mining District, Como emerged as a bustling outpost of timber-framed saloons, mills, and miners' shanties, its name possibly drawn from the Italian lake for its serene canyon setting or as a nod to the Comstock's allure.

Nestled in the stark, sun-scorched expanse of the Mojave Desert in southeastern Inyo County, California, Tecopa stands as a resilient outpost shaped by ancient indigenous pathways, fleeting mining booms, and the restorative allure of its natural hot springs. This unincorporated community, with coordinates at approximately 35°50′54″N 116°13′33″W and an elevation of 1,339 feet, derives its name from Paiute leader Chief Tecopa, a figure of regional reverence who symbolized the area's deep Native American roots. Once a bustling hub tied to silver-laden veins and rattling railcars, Tecopa's history intertwines with the broader narrative of the American Southwest's resource rushes, its fortunes ebbing and flowing like the Amargosa River nearby.

Hell's Heroes (1929) is a pioneering early sound Western film directed by the acclaimed William Wyler, marking his first all-talking production and a significant milestone in his illustrious career, which would later include classics like Ben-Hur and Roman Holiday. Adapted from Peter B. Kyne's novel The Three Godfathers, the story follows three desperate outlaws—Bob Sangster (Charles Bickford), "Barbwire" Gibbons (Raymond Hatton), and "Wild Bill" Kearney (Fred Kohler)—who rob a bank in the desert town of New Jerusalem and flee into the harsh wilderness.

Elizabethtown, New Mexico Elizabethtown, New Mexico, often referred to as "E-Town," is a ghost town in Colfax County, located along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway between Eagle Nest and Red River. Founded in 1866, it was the first incorporated town in New Mexico and briefly served as the Colfax County seat. This report explores the town’s origins, its rapid rise during the gold rush, its decline, and its lasting legacy as a historical site.

Perched at an elevation of 4,300 feet in the arid embrace of Clayton Valley, Silver Peak stands as a resilient sentinel in Esmeralda County, Nevada—one of the state's most remote and sparsely populated corners. Nestled along State Route 265, roughly 20 miles south of U.S. Route 6 and 30 miles west of the county seat at Goldfield, this unincorporated community has endured as a mining outpost since 1863, when silver veins first glittered in the volcanic soils of the Silver Peak Range. Flanked by the stark, sage-dotted hills of the Weepah and Montezuma ranges, Silver Peak's story is one of cyclical booms and busts, from silver fever in the 1860s to the modern lithium renaissance fueling electric vehicle batteries worldwide.

In the desolate expanse of Esmeralda County, Nevada—where the Silver Peak Range meets the stark horizon of the Great Basin—lie the weathered remnants of Palmetto, a ghost town that embodies the ephemeral pulse of the Silver Rush era. Founded in 1866 amid the feverish scramble for mineral wealth that followed the Comstock Lode's discovery, Palmetto's name whimsically derives from a prospectors' misidentification of local Joshua trees as relatives of the palmetto palms, evoking a touch of Southern nostalgia in this arid frontier. Situated at approximately 37.44°N, 117.69°W and an elevation of about 7,000 feet, Palmetto straddles the Nevada-California border, roughly 20 miles south of Silver Peak, 30 miles west of Lida, and 45 miles southwest of…

In the sun-scorched folds of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, where the Colorado Desert meets the stark horizon of Imperial County, lie the weathered remnants of Hedges—a fleeting gold camp that once pulsed with the clamor of picks, stamps, and dreams of fortune. Established in the late 19th century amid California's enduring gold fever, Hedges epitomized the raw, speculative energy of the American West's mining frontier. Named for a corporate vice president rather than a rugged prospector, this outpost in what was then eastern San Diego County (prior to Imperial County's formation in 1907) swelled to over 3,000 residents at its zenith, only to fade into spectral silence by the early 20th century.

In the scorched embrace of the Funeral Mountains, where the Mojave Desert meets the unrelenting heat of Death Valley, lies the spectral outline of Greenwater—a fleeting copper boomtown that flickered to life in the shadow of California's most infamous wilderness. Perched at approximately 3,500 feet in Greenwater Valley, about 27 miles southeast of Furnace Creek and just over the Nevada border from the Bullfrog Mining District, Greenwater embodied the raw ambition of early 20th-century prospectors. Named for the verdant spring that promised life amid the barren talus slopes and creosote flats, the town rose from two rival camps—Kunze and Ramsey—only to collapse under the weight of unprofitable veins and economic turmoil.