# Road trips in Nevada > 12 road trips and 19 hand-picked places in Nevada, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/nevada/ 12 road trips and 19 hand-picked places in Nevada, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Nevada - [US-50: the Loneliest Road in America](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/loneliest-road/): Across Nevada’s basins and ranges, through old mining towns to Great Basin National Park. - [Red rock around Las Vegas: Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b8-valley-of-fire/): Two red sandstone parks within an hour of the Strip, joined by the lonely Northshore Road along Lake Mead. - [Extraterrestrial Highway and Nevada ghost towns](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b8-extraterrestrial-highway/): North from Las Vegas past Area 51 on the Extraterrestrial Highway, then south through old mining boomtowns to the gateway of Death Valley. - [Great Basin Highway: canyons, ghost towns and charcoal ovens](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-great-basin-hwy/): North from Las Vegas on US-93 past a wildlife refuge, clay slot canyons and a silver-boom town to beehive ovens and a working railroad in Ely. - [Pyramid Lake, the Comstock and Lake Tahoe’s east shore](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-comstock-tahoe/): From Reno to a desert lake, up to the silver-mining town of Virginia City, through Nevada’s capital and oldest settlement to Tahoe’s granite coves. - [Death Valley loop](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/death-valley/): Golden badlands, the lowest point in North America and sand dunes, with a ghost town on the way. - [Hoover Dam and the Colorado River](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/colorado-river/): From the Las Vegas Strip to Hoover Dam and a London bridge in the Arizona desert. - [Desert art and strange sculpture](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/desert-art/): Neon signs, painted boulders, bottle trees and a mountain painted with slogans. - [Lake Tahoe loop](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/lake-tahoe/): Around the clear blue lake on the California–Nevada border, with Emerald Bay and old Truckee. - [Utah's five national parks, in one loop from Las Vegas](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/mighty-five/): Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands, returning past Monument Valley and Horseshoe Bend. - [Death Valley to Yosemite on the Eastern Sierra](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/eastern-sierra/): From the lowest point in North America to granite walls, by way of tufa towers. - [Death Valley in depth: Dante’s View to Ubehebe Crater](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b17-death-valley-deep/): Cross Death Valley from the viewpoint above Badwater through painted hills and marble canyons to a volcanic crater and on to Lone Pine. ## Places worth the detour in Nevada - [Red Rock Canyon](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-red-rock-canyon-nv/): A one-way scenic drive past red and cream sandstone cliffs just west of Las Vegas. A timed-entry reservation is needed for much of the year. - [Valley of Fire State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-valley-of-fire/): Nevada’s oldest state park, with flaming red sandstone, petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock and short trails like Mouse’s Tank. Some trails close on the hottest summer days. - [International Car Forest of the Last Church](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-car-forest/): Dozens of old cars, buses and trucks planted nose-down in the desert and covered in graffiti. Reached on a short dirt road; leave nothing behind. - [Rhyolite ghost town](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-rhyolite/): The ruins of a 1900s gold boom town, including a house built from bottles, next to the ghostly sculptures of the Goldwell Open Air Museum. - [Pyramid Lake](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-pyramid-lake/): A large desert lake on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, named for its tufa pyramid. A tribal day-use permit is required for visiting, camping and fishing; buy it online or in Sutcliffe before you go. - [Sand Harbor](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-sand-harbor/): Coves of clear water and smooth granite boulders on Lake Tahoe’s east shore. The lot often fills by mid-morning in summer; there is an entrance fee and roadside parking on SR-28 is restricted. - [Cathedral Gorge State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-cathedral-gorge/): Eroded bentonite clay formed into spires and slot canyons you can squeeze through. Moon Caves are a short walk from the car park and Miller Point overlook is on US-93; there is a campground with electric hook-ups. - [The Neon Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/neon-museum/): The "Boneyard" holds retired casino signs. Go after dark, when several are relit. - [Seven Magic Mountains](https://camping-spirit.com/places/seven-magic/): Seven towers of stacked limestone boulders painted in fluorescent colors, set in the desert south of Las Vegas. - [Hoover Dam](https://camping-spirit.com/places/hoover-dam/): A 726-foot Art Deco dam on the Arizona–Nevada line. Walk across the bypass bridge to see it from above. - [Great Basin National Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/great-basin/): Ancient bristlecone pines, Lehman Caves and some of the darkest night skies in the country. - [Fire Wave](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-fire-wave/): Swirling stripes of red and white sandstone at the end of a short trail off the White Domes road. The colors glow most in late afternoon. - [Lost City Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-lost-city-museum/): A small state museum of Ancestral Puebloan artifacts rescued from sites later flooded by Lake Mead, with a reconstructed pueblo outside. - [Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-pahranagat/): Spring-fed lakes and cottonwoods in the middle of the desert along US-93, busy with waterbirds. A good picnic stop before the empty miles ahead. - [Tonopah Historic Mining Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b8-tonopah-mining-park/): Headframes, hoist houses and a viewing platform over an old stope on the site of the 1900 silver strike that founded Tonopah. - [Mormon Station State Historic Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-mormon-station/): A replica of the 1851 trading post that marked the first permanent settlement in Nevada, in the village of Genoa below the Carson Range. It is small, with a museum in the stockade. - [Kershaw-Ryan State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-kershaw-ryan/): A green canyon oasis just south of Caliente, with a spring-fed pond, picnic lawns and short trails up the volcanic walls. It has a small campground; day-use fee. - [Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-ward-charcoal-ovens/): Six beehive-shaped stone ovens from 1876, used to make charcoal for silver smelters. They are reached by a good gravel road off US-93 south of Ely; there is a campground nearby. - [Nevada Northern Railway Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b17-nevada-northern/): A complete railroad yard from the early 1900s in East Ely, with shops, engines and depot still in working order. Excursion trains pulled by steam or diesel run on a schedule in the warmer months. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Nevada?** Popular routes include US-50: the Loneliest Road in America, Red rock around Las Vegas: Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire, Extraterrestrial Highway and Nevada ghost towns and Great Basin Highway: canyons, ghost towns and charcoal ovens. CampingSpirit has 12 trip guides that pass through Nevada, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Nevada are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire State Park, International Car Forest of the Last Church, Rhyolite ghost town, Pyramid Lake and Sand Harbor.