Goldfield, NV

Goldfield is a tiny historic town in Esmeralda County, Nevada, one of the least populated counties in the American West, and home to just a few hundred residents in the high desert of the Great Basin. Once one of the most glittering gold-mining boomtowns in the United States at the dawn of the twentieth century, it has long since quieted, and today it has the feel of a living ghost town: weathered brick storefronts, a stately old courthouse, and the famously half-finished Goldfield Hotel stand as reminders of a population that once numbered in the tens of thousands. The town is best known today for serving as a gateway to Death Valley National Park and as a base for exploring the remote backcountry of southwestern Nevada. It sits roughly 200 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the nearest major city, reached by a long, scenic drive up US Highway 95.

Just outside town, the strange roadside spectacle of the International Car Forest of the Last Church draws road-trippers and photographers to a hillside of half-buried, brightly painted cars left by artists to rust in the open desert. The installation has become one of the most photographed folk-art landmarks in Nevada and is only minutes from downtown Goldfield.

About thirty miles north on US 95 lies Tonopah, a larger former mining hub that serves as the de facto regional service center. Tonopah offers the Central Nevada Museum, the old Mizpah and Belvada mining hotels, a mining park, and a handful of preserved sites from the silver-mining era, making it a worthwhile half-day side trip for visitors based in Goldfield.

The greatest draw beyond Goldfield itself is Death Valley National Park, whose eastern and southern entrances lie roughly two to three hours to the southwest. From Goldfield, guests can reach the Furnace Creek area, home to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, as well as Zabriskie Point, sweeping sand dunes, and dramatic canyon drives, all with far fewer crowds than the more developed western entrances.

With its dramatic boom-and-bust history, its off-the-beaten-path feel, and its proximity to one of the most iconic national parks in the American West, Goldfield offers a distinctive base for short-term rentals. Travelers who stay here are rewarded with quiet, star-filled desert nights, easy day trips to Tonopah and Death Valley, and a sense of stepping into a wilder, older Nevada that the busier gateway towns have long since paved over.