Dart and Map

During a recent trip to Death Valley with my dude, I had time to explore some other places nearby in both Nevada and California.

In Beatty, Nevada, we stayed in a Motel 6. The gentleman at the front desk was kind and the room was clean & quiet with a nice view. Beatty has very few restaurants and they are very meat-oriented so if you are like us, and not into meat, then the casino Denny’s might be for you. Mind you, we DID get there late so options were slimer than during the day.  Just be sure to look into it before you go in case you have dietary restrictions. In fact, I suggest that for any trip, but especially smaller towns/areas. (I had a veggie burger, by the way, and was so hungry that I don’t even know if it was good or not as I inhaled it.)

There are a ton of things to do in Nevada besides Las Vegas and it was way nice to get started on visiting more of that state.

Just a few miles away from our hotel stands a sign for a former brothel called Angel’s Ladies, and next to it a small engine plane that had been meant to be used for an event there, but crashed. Oops. These two things are the only things right there, but cool for the photo opportunity for the ‘gram.

Close to Beatty is the ghost town of Rhyolite. I’ve been to many ghost towns and I can’t say the thrill is there as much now as when I started to go a long, long time ago. I have a fascination that so many people went West to seek a new life and riches and it never ends, just the industry changes. Whole towns built around gold, borax, copper, silver, then abandoned as people moved on to the next place for mining or to be a business benefiting from miners.

Rhyolite still has remains of the town, including the schoolhouse & the Overybury Building (which had multiple uses.)  Some ghost towns have nothing left at all. Some have many buildings. Some have one shack left. Some, like Virginia City, Montana, are a plethora of buildings from around the state.  Hmm This paragraph sounds very Dr. Seuss.

I had my eye out looking for wild burros, when I heard a noise that … maybe? Another woman also excitedly looked around. But, nope. It was a kid being a jerk. The woman told me she talked with a bartender the night before about burros. He told her they had just been rounded up about a week before, but she was hopeful. I certainly have opinions about burro and horse roundups.  I didn’t see any there, but did get to see some in Oatman, Arizona years ago at least. I was really bummed that there was no chance of seeing any at all, though. There are even signs around to watch out for them. Seems like a smart idea to let at least some of them roam.

On the same road, right before Rhyolite is an outdoor art gallery called The Goldwell Open Air Museum with sculptures by artists such as Charles Albert Szukalski, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Michelle Graves, & Ivana and Stanislaw Shmenke. Easy parking. Easy to walk around & gander. Large, beautiful sculptures, with the big sky and hills all around. On the small visitor building are posts about the art, so walk up the couple of steps to read it all. Great place to stop and enjoy art!

Pahrump, NV, which I had only ever driven through to get to Las Vegas, is very near Death Valley. There are casinos and hotels, but there are a few off the beaten path things to do. On the way to it is Devil’s Hole, which is where endangered Pup Fish dwell. When I saw pictures of how gated off it was, I didn’t really want to take the time to see it in the heat and picked Nature Health Farms Petting Zoo instead. It is also a CBD farm, an Airbnb and is a wedding chapel.  A nominal fee, plus purchase of food to give to the animals, gets you in. My boyfriend and I happened to get the place to ourselves. Alpacas, chickens, sheep, goats, doggies, donkeys. Now, anyone who has brought food around animals know how very much they all compete for it, so be prepared. Though it was a thrill that we happened to be there when no other tourists were, it did mean the animals were ALL about our tiny buckets of food. We got refills.

A sweet sheep was VERY interested in the food and was a lot stronger than I anticipated so he knocked down the bucket. I went back to get more feed and snuck past the little buddy so I can get attention from the other animals. The burros were so cute and wanted our attention even when there was no more food, especially adoring it from my boyfriend. I was very happy to get to pet alpacas. I love that they also have bangs, though I doubt they cut them after a break-up like I did long ago.

Do check the website to make sure they are open. It has their phone number that you should absolutely call to confirm your date and time.  The owner was very cool and seemed very fun. I dig that he decided he wanted a petting farm and then just did it. He also has another business giving VIP tours in Vegas.

We ended the day at Sanders Family Winery. It was a nice place with indoor and outdoor seating. The wine tasting was free. The wine is good and inexpensive, so naturally I bought a few bottles. It was delightful. While we were there, a group of people came out of another room. A local asked them where the group came from and they answered that they were realtors from Las Vegas. They expect Pahrump to be the next big thing because prices in Vegas are now too expensive for many people. So if you want to visit a nice small and unbothered town, now is the time because it’s going to be a giant development mess soon enough.

Motel 6, 550 US 95, Beatty, Nevada 89003

Goldwell Open Air Museum, 1 Golden Street, Beatty, NV 89003

Nature Health Farms Petting Zoo, 351 Bunarch Rd, Pahrump, NV 89060

Sanders Family Winery, 3780 E. Kellogg Rd, Pahrump, NV 89061

Also recommended:

Longstreet Inn and Casino, 8750 NV-373, Amargosa Valley, NV 89020

I stayed there one night. It is about 30 miles from Pahrump. It has a restaurant and a small convenience store. Also on the grounds are burros, a water buffalo, and goats. I don’t know if they are switched out with other animals at times.