Nevada has 297,000 wild acres 90 miles from the Strip, and almost nobody goes

It’s the desert Vegas doesn’t show you

Gold Butte National Monument covers nearly 297,000 acres of raw Mojave Desert in Clark County, about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas and just south of Mesquite.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area sits to the west, and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument lies across the Arizona border to the east.

Together, they form a continuous corridor of protected land that stretches toward the Grand Canyon itself. Almost nobody comes here.

The reason to go starts with what the wind left behind in the rock.

12,000 years of people and a five-year gold rush

People have lived in this stretch of desert for at least 12,000 years.

The Moapa Band of Paiutes and the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe still hold deep spiritual and cultural ties to the land. In 1873, Mormon pioneer Daniel Bonelli found mica here, and gold turned up in 1905.

A town sprang up fast, swelling to roughly 1,500 to 2,000 people with a hotel, a store, a livery stable and a post office. By 1910, the mining had mostly stopped.

On Dec. 28, 2016, President Barack Obama designated Gold Butte a national monument under the Antiquities Act.

Wind-carved goblins in Jurassic sandstone

Little Finland sits inside the monument, and it looks like another planet.

Wind and water have shaped red Aztec sandstone into fins, arches and goblin-like forms over millions of years. The rock dates to the Jurassic period, roughly 175 to 200 million years old.

A natural spring at the base of the plateau feeds palm trees, so you get a flash of green in the middle of all that red. The whole area covers just over a square mile, but the variety of shapes makes it feel much larger.

A falling figure and 2,000 ancient sites

More than 2,000 archaeological sites fill the monument, and hundreds of them hold petroglyph panels carved into sandstone. The Falling Man site is one of the most well-known.

High on a cliff, a single figure appears to be tumbling through the air, surrounded by dozens of other large panels. Other rock art sites go by names like Kohta Circus, the 21 Goat Panel and Newspaper Rock.

Some panels stretch up to 90 feet long and show generations of use. You can see human figures, animals and swirling abstract designs, but never touch or climb on them.

A roar, a dust cloud and a 100-foot hole

Devil’s Throat sits along the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway, and the story behind it sounds made up. In the early 1900s, cowboys and miners heard a loud roar and watched a cloud of dust rise from the desert floor.

Underground water had been dissolving gypsum in the soil for years, hollowing out a void that finally gave way. The sinkhole dropped about 100 feet deep, and it keeps growing.

The BLM put a chain-link fence around it, but they have had to move that fence back more than once as the edges crumble.

Pull over at Whitney Pocket first

Whitney Pocket is the first big landmark you hit, about 20 miles down Gold Butte Road. The pavement ends here, and the backcountry begins.

Sandstone formations rise around you in layers of red, white and orange, all sculpted by wind and water.

You can walk through petroglyphs, find an old dam, and explore a storage cave the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the 1930s.

Flat areas between the rock outcrops make this a popular spot for primitive camping, and it gives you a solid base before heading deeper.

Squeeze through seven keyhole-shaped slots

Near Little Finland, a narrow canyon called Seven Keyholes cuts through the Aztec sandstone.

Fractures in the rock wore smooth over thousands of years of wind and rain, leaving cross sections shaped like keyholes. Inside, the walls go dark and smooth.

The space feels more like a cathedral than a canyon.

Petroglyphs mark the entrance, and if you look carefully, you can find more tucked into hidden spots deeper in. The hike is short but steep, and you can easily add it to a day at Little Finland.

62 miles of dirt, ghost towns and Joshua trees

The Gold Butte Backcountry Byway runs a 62-mile loop through the heart of the monument. Plan four to five hours for the full drive.

You pass red and white sandstone, sinkholes, petroglyphs, and wide views of the Muddy Mountains and Lake Mead. The first 21 miles to Whitney Pocket roll over rough but passable old pavement.

Beyond that, the roads turn to rugged dirt, and you need a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle. Joshua tree forests line the lower elevations, giving the whole route that classic Mojave feel.

Four deserts and a rare Arizona cypress

Gold Butte sits where four ecosystems overlap. Vegetation from the Mojave, Great Basin and Sonoran deserts blends with Colorado Plateau species all in one place.

At lower elevations, you walk through creosote bush and Joshua trees. Climb higher and you find pinyon pine, juniper, ponderosa pine and white fir.

The Virgin Mountains in the northeast corner rise to about 8,000 feet and hold the only known pocket of Arizona cypress in Nevada, plus the state’s southernmost stand of Douglas fir.

Rare plants like the Las Vegas bear poppy and three-cornered milkvetch grow here too.

Desert tortoises, Gila monsters and golden eagles

The threatened Mojave Desert tortoise lives here. It is Nevada’s state reptile, and you might spot one crossing the road in spring.

Desert bighorn sheep work the rocky terrain, and hunting them is allowed in season.

Mountain lions, banded Gila monsters, golden and bald eagles, sidewinder rattlesnakes and Cooper’s hawks all share this ground.

Smaller animals include desert kangaroo rats, Allen’s big-eared bats and white-tailed antelope squirrels. Keep an eye out for roadrunners along the byway, and in spring, wildflowers cover the desert floor.

Two old-timers who never left Gold Butte

The ghost town sits about 41 miles from the start of the byway, deep in the monument. Around 1908, this place had a hotel, a store, a livery stable and a post office.

Workers shipped ore by wagon to nearby St. Thomas. After mining dried up, two men named Bill Garrett and Art Coleman stayed.

They lived in a wooden cabin for more than 40 years and fed travelers home-cooked meals. Today, you find cement foundations, a few mine shafts and old gravesites.

Garrett and Coleman are buried right there, near where their cabin once stood.

No water, no signal and no room for mistakes

Gold Butte has no visitor center, no running water, no trash service and almost no cell phone coverage. If you go past Whitney Pocket, bring a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Pack extra water, food, fuel, spare tires and a GPS or detailed maps. Summer temperatures can top 100 degrees, and winter nights drop to around 30.

All camping is primitive and free.

Watch where you step and where you put your hands, because rattlesnakes, scorpions and venomous spiders shelter under rocks and shrubs out here.

Explore Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada

You can reach Gold Butte by taking Interstate 15 to Exit 112, then heading south on State Route 170 to Gold Butte Road. The monument sits about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas in southeastern Nevada.

The Bureau of Land Management runs the site, and there is no entrance fee.

Gold Butte stays open year-round, but spring and fall bring the most comfortable temperatures for hiking and driving. Check the official website for road conditions before you head out.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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