Ghost Towns
Goodsprings
Goodsprings is the easy half day: a paved drive southwest to a small town that still has a saloon, a cemetery, and the bones of an early-1900s mining camp. It will disappoint anyone hunting empty ruins and an empty street. It works well for anyone who wants a real place, a short drive, and a clear way home.
- From Las Vegas
- About 45 minutes
- Distance
- On the order of 35 miles
- Road
- Paved the whole way, via I-15 and State Route 161
- Time to allow
- Half day
Short history
The camp grew around lead and zinc in the early twentieth century, with a railroad spur tying it to the main line near Jean. The Pioneer Saloon, dating to 1913, is the building that carried the town’s public life forward after the mines quieted.
The saloon is tied to a documented 1942 search. After a plane carrying the actress Carole Lombard crashed on Potosi Mountain, Clark Gable waited in Goodsprings for news. People who work there also point out bullet holes. Where those holes came from is less settled than the crash, so treat that part as house lore.
Practical visitor info
Hours and fees change. Check the site, the park, or the business before you go. This page does not quote a current price or a current opening time.
The numbers match the drive times and distances page. Read desert day-trip tips before a hot day, and seesample itineraries if you want to combine stops. The town list is Ghost Towns Near Las Vegas. Tonopah and the Extraterrestrial Highway are indexed under Weird Day Trips.
Drive from Las Vegas
Plan on about 45 minutes from central Las Vegas, on the order of 35 miles. The usual route is I-15 southwest toward Jean, then State Route 161, Goodsprings Road, into town.
Traffic on I-15 toward California can be the whole delay. The town itself adds almost no road time.
Road notes
The route is pavement, and a normal rental car is the right tool. This page does not track lane closures on I-15.
You do not need a dirt-road vehicle for the saloon, the cemetery, or the town streets. If you leave those and start exploring mine traces in the hills, you have left this itinerary. Those tracks are not described here.
What you can see
The Pioneer Saloon is a working business, not a preserved facade. If you want a meal or a restroom, that depends on the saloon being open. Hours are not listed here.
The cemetery and a scatter of older buildings are the rest of the public look of the camp. Homes in town are homes. The visit is the street, the saloon if it is open, and the cemetery if you are quiet about it.
Heat and safety
Goodsprings is still the desert, just a shorter stay in it. Summer afternoons commonly sit above 100°F (38°C). The saloon is the shade, and only when it is open.
Because the drive is short, this is the trip to keep when the forecast makes Rhyolite or the Extraterrestrial Highway a poor idea.
What a half-day looks like
The drive is about 45 minutes. See the cemetery and the street, and stop at the Pioneer Saloon if it is open. You should be back with daylight to spare. The saloon is a working business. Its hours are not listed here. Check before you count on a meal.
Photos
The pictures below are stored with the site. Each credit links to the Wikimedia Commons file.
Photo by Stan Shebs, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo by Stan Shebs, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Car rental
Any ordinary rental car handles this paved half day. The car-rental link is reserved here and is not connected.
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Guided tours
Guided tours aimed only at Goodsprings are uncommon. Leave this slot unused until a real, current tour is worth adding.
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