Rhyolite Ghost Town
Rhyolite is Beatty’s famous ghost town neighbor—just a quick drive up the hill, and suddenly you’re standing in the middle of a boomtown that went from “next big thing” to empty in about 20 years. Once home to thousands of people, banks, hotels, and an opera house, it’s now all wide-open sky, broken walls, and big stories left behind in the dust.
The ruins are the stars of the show. The crumbling three-story Cook Bank building, the old school, and the railroad depot all make you feel like you’ve walked onto a movie set—because, honestly, you kind of have. Rhyolite’s been used in several films and is one of the most photographed ghost towns in the West, so don’t forget your camera.
Then there’s Tom Kelly’s Bottle House, built from around 50,000 glass bottles when lumber was harder to come by than beer. The house was even restored for a movie in the 1920s and still stands as one of Rhyolite’s quirkiest, most-loved landmarks. It’s the kind of place that makes people say, “Okay, now that’s creative recycling.
Just beyond the main ruins, the landscape around Rhyolite adds to the whole ghost town vibe—old mine cuts in the hills, scattered relics, and wide-open desert that glows at sunrise and sunset. It’s quiet out there in a way that makes every broken wall and weathered board feel a little more dramatic, like the town is still telling its story… just in whispers now.
Today, Rhyolite is an easy side trip from Beatty and a favorite stop for folks heading to or from Death Valley. You wander through the ruins, check out the art, maybe catch golden-hour light on those broken walls, and then head back down to modern Beatty with dusty shoes and a camera full of proof that ghost towns really do have personality.
