Saturday March 14 through Monday, March 16, 2026
On Saturday we slip out of Whiskey Flat RV Park and head south on US 95 a hundred miles south to Tonopah, seat of Nye Couny. Nicknamed the Queen of the Silver Camps for its mining-rich history,[it is now primarily a tourism-based resort city. On the way we can see the snow covered Mammoth Mountain which is a very popular snow skiing location in Kali-Fornia.
Mammoth Mountain
notable for attractions like the Mizpah Hotel and the Clown Motel.
Tonopah is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In the 2020 census, the population was 2,179 souls.
Mining Headframe in Tonopah
We leave Tonopah taking Highway 6 east. It’s interesting to see the remnants of mines in Tonopah, i.e. several head frames still standing.
The wide open spaces in Nevada
Highway 6 is definitely more rough than US 95 and a cross wind is starting to blow. There is no shoulder on the highway so ya better stay in your lane………]
I was planning on a pit stop at Warm Springs however all but two buildings of this place have disappeared, is not inhabited and really doesn’t have a good place to pull the beast and the toad off of the road, so we continue on, this time on the Extraterrestrial Highway, Nevada 375 so named due to its proximity to the infamous Area 51 located at the Nevada Test and Training Range. Apparently there are a lot of military aircraft that buzz the area as there are “low flying aircraft” signs along the highway. There are zero places to stop until we get to Rachel.
I’m expecting a real town- I’d call Rachel more of a settlement population 48 souls which happens to be the closest settlement to the test range. We stop and admire all of the ET stuff.
We finally get to our next turn which is on US 93, We head north through some pretty canyons, one of which is inhabited by a lot of junipers.
We get to Caliente and take a sharp right, the road leads us to Kershaw Ryan State Park where we’ll spend two nights. The park is located in a box canyon, campground first and then Kershaw Garden. The garden was donated to the state back in the ’30s with the area to be designated as a Nevada State Park. The campground has an interesting layout but its nice.
Next time we’ll do a little exploring here at the park and at nearby Caliente
Travel With Jil and Mike 