Amargosa River Valley and Rhyolite
The historical community of Beatty was found in 1900 as the railroad service center for the Bullfrog Mining District. It was once served by 3 railroads that ran through to the booming metropolis of nearby Rhyolite, then a town of 10,000. Today, Rhyolite is a ghost town, and Beatty is a casual highway stopping point for travelers to Death Valley. Some of old Beatty can still be seen. The Exchange Club still does business in the same building that George Greenwood built in 1906.
Rhyolite is worth the short drive west of town. The wind has knocked down many of the buildings on the old mining town's main street, and only a few walls remain. The mission-style railroad station still stands, as does a bottle house that was constructed with 50,000 liquor and beer bottles by a miner, Tom Kelly. Some of the features of the old town are to be restored by the Friends of Rhyolite, a nonprofit society recently formed. The bottle house is high on their list of priorities.
The highway drive to Death Valley (via Highway 374) passes through Daylight Pass. Chloride Cliff, reached via a rough 5-mile dirt road off State Route 374, offers an excellent view of Death Valley. Also in route to the national park are the ghost towns of Rhyolite and Bullfrog. Six miles north of Beatty on U.S. 95 is Baily's Hot Springs. With water temperature of about 104 degrees F., the springs are open year-round.
Southwest of Beatty are the Amargosa Dunes, huge hills of sand open to the public for hiking, off-road driving, and picnicking. Conventional vehicles (even 4WD vehicles) are not suitable for driving on the dunes: ATVs or dune buggies are required. The dunes are just a small part of what constitutes the Amargosa Desert, a vast tract that lies in the valley of the old Amargosa River. The river is now a series of dry washes. Many backroads lead through Bureau of Land Management lands.
Location / Description
A picturesque desert town in the Amargosa River Valley, Beatty is the Nevada approach to Death Valley National Park. Beatty is the closest town to Death Valley National Park and is only a half-hour's drive from the valley floor. It is surrounded by 3 peaks; Bare Mountain, Sawtooth Mountain and the Bullfrog Hills.
Population / Elevation
1,600 people / 3,308 feet above sea level
Weather / Climate
Beatty has a typical Mojave Desert climate with hot summers, cool winters and less than 5 inches of rain annually. But summertime temperatures are much cooler than the floor of nearby Death Valley.
|Beatty City, Nevada - Monthly Climate Normals|
Hotels - Motels Click Here
Camping RV Parks
With 6 campgrounds and RV parks, Beatty provides a cooler place to camp than Death Valley during summer months. Bailey's Hot Springs, 6 miles north of Beatty, has 14 sites with hookups as well as swimming. For information on camping and RV parks in and around Beatty contact:
Beatty Chamber of Commerce
119 Main Street, P.O. Box 956
Beatty, NV 89003
Events CalendarOctober: Beatty Days
- DesertUSA Trading Post
- Surviving Summer in Death Valley: Learning from the Wild
- Piercing the Heart of the Panamints via Goler Canyon
- Death Valley Scotty
- Scotty's Castle in the Deser
- Death Valley Winter Washout
- Death Valley Weekend Field Trip
- Death Valley Reprieve
- Death Valley's Titus Canyon
- Ballarat Ghost Town
Cities & Towns
- Pahrump, Nevada: 73 miles southeast.
- Tonopah, Nevada: 92 miles north.
- Las Vegas, Nevada:115 miles southeast.
- Shoshone, California: 81 miles southeast.
- Baker, California: 137 miles south.
Parks & Monuments
Parks & Monuments
Wilderness & Recreation Areas
- Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area: 100 miles south.
- Lake Mead National Recreation Area: 130 miles southeast.
- Afton Canyon (BLM)
- Dumont Dunes Off-Highway Vehicle Area (BLM)
Historic & Points of Interest
- Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge: Spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert. Currently in the process of restoring the wetlands to improve habitat for 24 species of plants and animals unique to the world.
- Amargosa Hotel: A restored historical hotel.
- Beatty Museum & Historical Society: Preserving the history of the Bullfrog Mining District.
- Bonnie Springs Ranch/Old Nevada: Experience the Old West. The Ranch includes live shoot-outs, hangin's, wooden sidewalks, wax museum and exhibits. There is a petting zoo for the children and silent movies for the whole family.
- Cathedral Canyon: Developed by Roland Wiley. Enjoy the walking pathways, colorful scenes, sculptures and stained glass.
- Central Nevada Museum: (Logan Field Road - Tonopah, Nevada). Featured are blacksmiths' shop, a miners cabin, a stamp mill, tool shed, equipment and much more.
- Carpenter Canyon, Trout Canyon and Wheeler Pass: Spring Mountain National Recreation Area - US Forest Service - For your hunting, hiking, picnicking and camping pleasures.
- Goldfield: View Goldfield's rich past and the Esmeralda County Courthouse.
- Death Valley Junction: Former headquarters of the Pacific Coast Borax Company.
- Marta Becket's Amargosa Opera House: (Death Valley Junction) World renowned for their performances.
- Rhyolite: Visit a once booming gold town, now only ruins stand to tell the story. One of the main attractions is the Bottle House, built to withstand the desert environment.
- Shoshone Museum: (Shoshone) An oasis where Death Valley begins.
- Titus Canyon: The most popular back-country road in Death Valley National Park has rugged mountains, colorful rock formations, a ghost town, petroglyphs, wildlife and spectacular narrows.
You might also be interested in:
Desert Road Trippin': Bighorn Encounter In Beatty, Nevada
From Beatty to Ballarat: On the Trail of Shorty Harris
Ghost Towns of the Mohave Desert
Death Valley's Ballarat Ghost Town
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