Old Railroad Grade Road (and the related historic LV&T grades near Rhyolite) follows remnants of early-1900s railroad beds in the Nevada Triangle portion of Death Valley National Park and adjacent public land near the Rhyolite ghost town and Beatty, Nevada.
Trail Description
The named Old Railroad Grade Road is a short, relatively easy ~4.1-mile full-width dirt/two-track route near Beatty. The western section is well-graded and wide; farther along it transitions to rockier two-track with some washout transitions (one a bit more pronounced). It passes near the local airport and an old Nevada gun club range area. Technical rating is low (around 2/easy on common off-road scales). High-clearance vehicles, SUVs, side-by-sides, ATVs, and dirt bikes handle it well in dry conditions; standard passenger cars may struggle on the rougher sections. Best seasons are fall, winter, and spring. Expect typical desert conditions: sharp rocks that can puncture tires, potential rattlesnakes, and limited cell service (often just a bar of LTE). Beatty provides nearby fuel, food, and supplies.
More historically significant (and scenic for railroad enthusiasts) are the visible remnants of the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad “high line” grade. This runs from the Rhyolite area northward through the Bullfrog Hills, with cuts, fills, and the old roadbed still evident for roughly 12 miles through what is now Death Valley National Park lands in the Nevada Triangle. Sections are driveable or walkable in places (from near Rhyolite toward the Original Bullfrog Mine area, Mud Summit, and farther north toward Currie’s Wells in good conditions), though flash flooding and erosion can change accessibility. The grade is often clearly visible against the desert floor. It offers quiet high-desert scenery, solitude, and a strong sense of the boom-era landscape with minimal modern development.
Rhyolite itself (just outside the park boundary, on mixed federal/private land managed in part by BLM) is the natural starting point. The well-preserved Mission Revival-style Las Vegas & Tonopah depot still stands at the north end of town, along with other ruins (Cook Bank, Bottle House, etc.). The Goldwell Open Air Museum is nearby. Always check current conditions with the National Park Service or local sources, as desert roads can wash out, and respect private property and ARPA protections (leave artifacts in place).
History of Railroads in the Area
The early 1900s gold strikes at Tonopah (1900), Goldfield (1902–03), and especially the Bullfrog District (Rhyolite area, 1904) triggered a short but intense railroad-building boom. Between roughly 1904 and 1907, several companies raced to lay hundreds of miles of track to serve the mining camps, haul ore and supplies, and capture passenger traffic. Beatty became a key junction (sometimes called the “Chicago of the West” for its rail activity), with three lines converging on the district.
Key railroads:
- Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad (LV&T): Built by Senator William A. Clark (1905–07). It ran northwest from Las Vegas ~198 miles to Goldfield, with service through Beatty and directly into Rhyolite (first train arrived December 1906). The challenging “high line” section climbed from Beatty through Rhyolite and the Bullfrog Hills (including steep grades requiring helper engines). A handsome Mission Revival depot was completed in Rhyolite in 1908. The line suffered from high operating costs, lighter-than-expected traffic after the mines underperformed, and the Panic of 1907. Northern sections (including the high line west/north of Rhyolite) were largely abandoned around 1914 after consolidation; overall LV&T operations ended by 1918, and much of the Las Vegas–Beatty alignment was later used for U.S. Highway 95.
- Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad (BG or BGRR): Incorporated 1905, built 1906–07 southward from Goldfield to Beatty and Rhyolite (~82 miles originally). It competed directly for Bullfrog District traffic and later shared or leased trackage. Operations continued in reduced form into the late 1920s (ended ~1928).
- Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad (T&T): Built by “Borax” Smith northward from Ludlow, California (reaching the Beatty/Gold Center area in 1907). It connected via the Bullfrog Goldfield tracks and outlasted the pure gold-boom lines thanks in part to borax traffic, operating until 1940 (rails later removed for WWII scrap).
Rhyolite itself exploded after the 1904 discovery by Shorty Harris and E.L. Cross, peaking around 1907–08 with thousands of residents, banks, an opera house, electricity, and multiple rail connections. The Montgomery-Shoshone and other mines never sustained the boom; the town collapsed rapidly (last train roughly 1918 or earlier on some lines; population near zero by the early 1920s). Rails were progressively abandoned and pulled up (many for wartime scrap in the 1940s). Today the grades, the Rhyolite depot, scattered ties/artifacts, and the surrounding desert landscape preserve the story of this brief, competitive railroad era that briefly linked remote Nevada mining camps to the outside world.
These remnants offer an evocative way to experience the landscape much as it appeared over a century ago—quiet, open desert with the subtle engineering scars of cuts and fills still readable on the ground. Always travel prepared, stay on existing routes, and verify road status, as conditions in this remote area change with weather.