7 Best Small Towns in Nevada For A Weekend Escape

Most weekend trips inside Nevada end at the same Strip casinos or Reno tables where they started. The rest of the state belongs largely to the residents who live there. The seven small towns ahead are what those residents drive to when they want a weekend off from the slot machines. Virginia City alone makes the case, with Mark Twain's first byline still preserved in the Territorial Enterprise building where he wrote it in 1863. Each of the other six carries a similarly specific reason for the drive within a half-day of Las Vegas, Reno, or the Lake Tahoe corridor.

Ely

Ely, a remote mountain town, sits in the heart of the Great Basin and is one of the picturesque small towns in Nevada. Though it was first a Pony Express and stagecoach stop called Murry's Station, founded in 1868, it eventually became a copper mining hub when Kennecott began open-pit operations at Ruth in 1906. The Nevada Northern Railway, operating since 1906, runs heritage steam excursions out of the 1907 East Ely Depot, a National Historic Landmark. The downtown's Renaissance Village mural project has covered more than 30 building facades with scenes from the area's Wild West and mining-era history since 1999.

Great Basin National Park, about 65 miles east of Ely, is a beautiful spot for hiking, biking, and exploring Lehman Caves. The grove of bristlecone pines on Wheeler Peak contains trees verified at more than 4,700 years old, among the oldest non-clonal organisms on Earth. Cave Lake State Park, 15 miles southeast of town, is home to a 32-acre reservoir built in 1932 and is ideal for boating, fishing, and camping. Pay a visit to Garnet Hill and search for unique stones, or enjoy a forested retreat at Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, where six 30-foot beehive ovens built in 1876 still stand intact.

Virginia City

One of the ghost towns of America, Virginia City offers a deep dive into the history of the Comstock Lode, which produced an estimated $400 million in silver and gold between its 1859 discovery and the 1880s. The wealth helped fund the Union during the Civil War and built much of San Francisco. The town is also home to numerous Victorian buildings, including the Washoe Club and stately Piper's Opera House, both of which many believe to be haunted.

Frozen in time as a National Historic Landmark District since 1961, Virginia City has numerous saloons and restaurants with 19th-century aesthetics, as well as exciting events year-round. Mark Twain worked at the Territorial Enterprise newspaper here in the early 1860s and adopted his pen name in February 1863. The annual Camel and Ostrich Races, running since 1959, are a uniquely local tradition. About 40 minutes from Reno, Virginia City is an excellent spot to enjoy the bustle of a big city while also relishing the character of a small, history-soaked town.

Genoa

Home to the state's oldest bar, the Genoa Bar and Saloon (operating continuously since 1853), Genoa is brimming with history and sits at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Founded in 1851 as Mormon Station, a trading post serving the California-bound emigrant traffic on the Carson Route, it is the oldest non-Native settlement in what is now Nevada. The town is known for a beautiful historic district with Victorian homes, unique boutiques, and locally owned restaurants. It is just south of Lake Tahoe, making it an ideal destination to spend a weekend hiking the mountainscape and enjoying the lake's beautiful waters.

Pay a visit to the statue of John "Snowshoe" Thompson, who carried mail on hand-carved Norwegian skis across the Sierra Nevada between Genoa and Placerville, California, every winter from 1856 to 1876. The Mormon Station State Historic Park preserves the rebuilt 1851 trading post stockade. The nearby Walley's Hot Springs is another spot to add to your bucket list, especially with the knowledge that it has operated as a commercial bath house since 1862. Mark Twain reportedly spent time at the springs during his Nevada years.

Rachel

One of the best small towns in Nevada, Rachel sits just off Nevada State Route 375, which was officially renamed the Extraterrestrial Highway by the state in 1996. Situated about 30 miles north of the Nevada Test and Training Range (commonly called Area 51), the Little A'Le'Inn is a popular spot for guests who are looking to spot a UFO. The motel and restaurant, owned and operated by Pat and Joe Travis since 1989, has appeared in Mars Attacks!, Independence Day, and Paul. Camp out at Basin and Range National Monument, designated in 2015 and protecting 704,000 acres of dark-sky desert, and enjoy the vast and scenic landscape under clear skies, a perfect spot to search for UFOs.

Visitors can dine at the alien-themed restaurant complete with its "Earthlings Welcome" sign and a menu featuring the Alien Burger and Alien Amber Ales. The town has fewer than 60 permanent residents. Las Vegas is about two hours and 45 minutes south, so you can enjoy the best of small towns and the big city in a single trip. The 2019 "Storm Area 51" viral event drew several thousand visitors to Rachel in a single September weekend, the largest gathering in the town's history.

Lovelock

Another of the most underrated towns in Nevada, Lovelock is a quiet, small town with plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities. Named for English immigrant George Lovelock, who deeded land for the original 1866 Central Pacific Railroad station, the town runs about 1,800 residents in Pershing County. It sits along Interstate 80, the route locally signed as the Cowboy Corridor, and is home to Lovelock Cave, one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Great Basin.

Excavations at Lovelock Cave beginning in 1924 recovered the Lovelock Duck Decoys, eleven tule-reed and feather waterfowl decoys radiocarbon-dated to about 2,000 years ago and the oldest known decoys in the world. The cave was used by the ancestors of the Northern Paiute for at least 4,000 years. Be sure to visit the popular destinations, such as the Rye Patch Reservoir, the Humboldt River, and the remnants of ancient Lake Lahontan, a Pleistocene lake that once covered much of northwestern Nevada. The Rye Patch State Recreation Area, 22 miles northeast, is a great spot for swimming, fishing, and camping. Stop by Lovers Lock Plaza, modeled on the Tianshan Mountain lock tradition and installed in 2006, where you can hang your own lover's lock.

Minden

Settled in 1906 as the V&T Railway terminal serving the Carson Valley dairy industry, Minden is one of the cutest small towns in Nevada. The town was named for the city of Minden in northern Germany, the ancestral home of valley founder Heinrich Dangberg. About 3,500 people live in town today, surrounded by century-old homes and brick buildings from the early V&T era. Enjoy a stroll through the downtown streets or peruse the surrounding Carson Valley with panoramic views of the basin.

Minden is near the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, as well as the Topaz Lake State Recreation Area. This town is ideal for anyone in search of a weekend of biking, hiking, boating, camping, and exploring. The Bently Heritage Estate Distillery, opened in 2018 inside two restored Minden creamery and flour mill buildings from the early 1900s, produces grain-to-glass whiskey, gin, and vodka. If you are interested in seeing the area from the air, check out SoaringNV at the Minden-Tahoe Airport, where pilots have set multiple world glider records, including the 1986 world altitude record of 49,009 feet.

Caliente

Caliente is home to several hot springs in the surrounding area, which gave the town its Spanish-derived name (the Spanish word for "hot"). Situated in southeastern Nevada's Lincoln County, about 150 miles north of Las Vegas, the railroad town was established in 1901 as a Union Pacific division point. It is a hub for year-round events and activities, including softball tournaments, Fourth of July parties, and Memorial Day celebrations. The 1923 Mission Revival depot still stands and now houses the city library and chamber of commerce.

Kershaw-Ryan State Park, just outside the town, sits in a steep box canyon with a microclimate that supports wild grapes, peach trees, and the original Kershaw family rose plantings from 1873. Beaver Dam State Park, 28 miles east on a partially gravel road, is the most isolated state park in Nevada and is ideal for weekend hiking, camping, and fishing trips. If searching for a taste of natural history, visit Oak Spring Trilobite Area, which contains fossilized remains of six different Cambrian-age trilobite species.

Escape to Nevada

For a weekend escape packed with fun and excitement, both indoors and outdoors, Nevada is an ideal destination. The state has a long list of small towns, each home to its own specific attractions. Whether to play the tables at one of the many casinos or simply revel in the natural beauty of the Nevada outdoors, there is something fun for everyone in this diverse state.