5 odd and offbeat Nevada attractions
Face your fear of ghosts (and clowns) at the World Famous Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada.
A junked car forest, an alien bookshop, and haunted lodging options among the strangest spots in Nevada
Nevada is anything but ordinary. Some say the state is downright weird. We have slot machines inside our supermarkets and a wedding chapel inside a Denny’s. Our legacy is in producing gold, yet we’re nicknamed the Silver State.
As someone who walks the offbeat path, I’m good with the weird moniker. It’s also a big draw for Nevada tourists, with photo ops that check every box:
Historic artifacts ✅
Quirky art ✅
Conspiracy theories✅
Naughty ghosts ✅
Tourism is Nevada’s superpower, so the tourism bureau has not one but two officially designated lists of weird Nevada attractions. You can check out a cumulative list on the Travel Nevada website, along with a Weird Vegas soundtrack for the journey. Available as a 28-song Spotify playlist, the songs are nods to all things Nevada, including bizarre and iconic places, neon signs, and the nuclear age.
I’ve visited close to a dozen of the attractions on the Travel Nevada list, and logged a couple of new ones during my visit to the north in November. Among these gems are a forest of junked cars, a library for alien enthusiasts, and a haunted hotel. Here’s a look at five of these weird spots, perfect for a Nevada road trip.
5. International Car Forest of the Last Church
Goldfield
Goldfield’s International Car Forest of the Last Church lets you get up close and personal with a stunning desert landscape of junked, grafitti-covered cars and trucks.
The International Car Forest of the Last Church is frequently compared to the Cadillac Ranch of Amarillo, Texas, but the Nevada version is larger and more sporadic. Junked cars, trucks, and vans — even a bus — stretch back toward and into the vast mountains. Some are buried headfirst or tailpipe-first; others are stacked atop one another like a sloppy pile of old magazines.
Each vehicle is covered in colorful graffiti art, which makes it stand both in sharp contrast to and in harmony with the sprawling desert landscape, like flowers sprouting up from the dirt in a vast dystopian landscape.
This junk car forest is the brainchild of longtime Goldfield resident Mark Rippie with help from artists Chad Sorg and Zak Sargent. Over the past 10-plus years, these men grew the collection from one car taking a nosedive in the dirt to more than 40 vehicles of all shapes and forms.
The International Car Forest of the Last Church is free to explore from your car or by foot. All the artists ask is that you respect the art.
In other words, don’t be a jerk.
Rocket Bob’s Art Cars
Speaking of crazy cars covered in paint, if you’re passing through Goldfield, look out for Rocket Bob’s Art Cars. Located along the main drag, these mechanical and whimsical installations on wheels go way back, long before the car forest, and have even been seen at the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert.
The International Car Forest of the Last Church is located 190 miles northeast of Las Vegas at the south end of Goldfield off U.S. 95. It’s accessible via a dirt road.
4. The World Famous Clown Motel
Tonopah
The Clownvis Suite is Room 222 at the Clown Motel. It’s a suite suited for a Vegas King.
Equal parts creepy, cute, and comfortable, The World Famous Clown Motel in Tonopah has been seen in movies and on TV, most notably the Travel Channel’s “Ghost Adventures” with Zak Bagans.
It opened in 1985 with a collection of 150 clown figurines. Today there are 3,000-plus.
The motel changed ownership in 2019, and the new owner is invested in its success. When I stayed there in 2021, the infamous property was undergoing renovations and improvements like the addition of barbecue grills and a gazebo.
The motel is dog-friendly, so you can bring your pups along when you walk through the clown museum. The lobby museum is a veritable clown circus with clown figurines of all shapes and sizes, clown paintings, clown toys — pretty much all things clown or clown adjacent.
I didn’t experience any paranormal activity during my stay but the massive clown collection chilled me to the bone.
My husband and I stayed in Room 222, the Clownvis Suite. I chose this room because the King of Clowns feels very Vegas-y, and less likely to haunt a Las Vegas native than other clowns. I’m not sure that logic makes sense but it seemed to work. The only thing haunting us in this room was the bright lime green and hot pink wall paint.
The paint grew on us, to be honest. We got a kick out of all the unique Clownvis decorations. The modern TV and the antique-style refrigerator were also nice surprises.
Plus, there was a full-sized coffeemaker. I didn’t use it. I just felt better knowing it was there.
Since theme suites are no longer open to pets (according to the motel website), we’ll have to leave my dogs at home or clown around in a different room next time.
Note: Clownvis is a character, portrayed on TV, radio, and social media by Michael Leahy. He has appeared on “America’s Got Talent.”
Old Tonopah Cemetery
Adjacent to the Clown Motel is a surprisingly charming and antiquated cemetery, with the graves of some of Tonopah’s earliest settlers. You and your dog will lose track of time perusing the graves, many of which are marked with the inhabitant’s cause of death. It’s like a labyrinth of memories.
Mizpah Hotel
Also on Tonopah’s Main Street (and also haunted) is the historic Mizpah Hotel, once the tallest hotel in Nevada. A whole five stories! While the Clown Motel was more cute than cursed, the Mizpah Hotel is another story. My dog, Hershey, didn’t last five minutes inside before making a beeline straight for the exit. I can’t say for certain that she saw a ghost, but she was terrified about something. If I’m being logical, it was probably the sound of the slot machines in the casino.
The Clown Motel is located at 521 N. Main Street in Tonopah, 211 miles northeast of Las Vegas on US 95.
3. Goldwell Open Air Museum
Rhyolite
Sculptures from Belgian and American artists dot the desert landscape at the Goldwell Open Air Museum.
The Goldwell Open Air Museum is home to eclectic and thought-provoking public art on a plot of land in the Mojave Desert. You may happen upon the growing collection of life-size sculptures on your way in or out of Death Valley National Park, but it’s also worth its own trip, attracting 20,000 people a year.
The museum, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024, has welcomed new pieces to its permanent collection since I visited in 2021. The most recent addition is “Dip Town,” a ghost town replica by Russian Artist duo Irina & Stanislav Schminke. Added in 2023, this nostalgic fantasy land came from the 2022 Burning Man festival.
Still standing, the first five statues from the museum’s original collection, including “The Last Supper,” a ghostly nod to Leonardo da Vinci by Belgian artist Albert Szukalski.
Blonde with pink skin, 25-feet-tall on her knees, and made of cinder blocks, “Lady Desert: Venus of Nevada” by Dr. Hugo Heyrman reminds me of large-scale, naughty pixel art or an 1980s video game heroine.
The museum has parking and a small information booth. It’s free to peruse and photograph, though donations are suggested.
Rhyolite Ghost Town
Just up the road, Rhyolite Ghost Town (1904–1916) is also worth exploring. The town once had hotels, a school, a hospital, and even a red-light district. Remaining sites include a 3-story bank building, train depot, and an iconic house, The Bottle House, built in 1906 by miner Tom T. Kelly. When it comes to bottles of beer on the wall, this one is made out of 50,000.
Views of the surrounding valley are absolutely gorgeous.
The Goldwell Open Air Museum and Rhyolite are located off State Route 374, four miles beyond Beatty, and 5 miles to Death Valley National Park in California.
2. Alien Research Center
Hiko/Alamo
An enormous silver alien statue stands out front of the Alien Research Center, pictured here during Alienstock in 2019
No list of weird Nevada attractions would be complete without a mention of U.S. State Route 375, a.k.a. the Extraterrestrial Highway, near the infamous Area 51 (a.k.a. the Nevada Test and Training Range).
Specifically on the Travel Nevada list is The Alien Research Center. Located at the eastern end of the E.T. highway in Hiko, it’s impossible to miss. An enormous silver alien statue stands out front as a beacon to those on the road or in space (there have been 1,800 UFO sightings in Nevada in 2025, according to the National UFO Reporting Center).
The Alien Research Center is a gift shop with books about such matters, from alien abductions to sightings. The store hosts alien-themed events throughout the year, so check out the website for more information.
Owner, George Harris, is a believer with plenty of insight on aliens, UFOs and Area 51. He also owns the liquor brand, Alien Tequila Spirits.
After a few shots of his tequila, you might be seeing little green men, too.
Rachel
If you drive about halfway down the remote and cow-traveled E.T. Highway, you’ll hit the tiny town of Rachel, which is known as the closest town to the Area 51 gate. The town is home to the Little A’le’inn, a quirky cafe and motel where you can eat alien burgers (no aliens included), buy alien-themed merchandise, and trade abduction stories. It’s also open to camping, so you can stargaze and look for UFOs all night long.
E.T. Fresh Jerky
Located south of the Alien Research Center in Alamo, this silly specialty shop sells high-quality beef, buffalo, elk, venison, and turkey jerky, dried fruit, nuts, and alien souvenirs.
The Alien Research Center is located off U.S. 93 at the eastern end of U.S. State Route 375, a.k.a. the Extraterrestrial Highway, in Hiko.
5. Washoe Club and Haunted Museum
Virginia City
The three-story Washoe Club and Haunted Museum is filled with spooky antiques, old architecture, creepy corners, and liminal spaces.
Pretty much the entire town of Virginia City fits the bill for being weird. This is a place, after all, with quirky events like annual outhouse, camel, and ostrich races.
As for specifically weird attractions, the short-lived Washoe Club and Haunted Museum tops the town’s list. It opened in 1875 as an exclusive "Millionaires Club" for the wealthy elite of the Comstock Lode (the first major silver discovery in America). Burning down 5 months later during the Great Fire of 1875, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1876, but didn’t last into the 20th century since mines dried up in the 1880s and most miners moved on.
Today, it is a historical landmark famous for its paranormal activity and open to tours ($5-$10) and $400 overnight investigations. The museum, spiral staircase, and crypt have been featured extensively on Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures.
You enter the Washoe Club off Virginia City’s boardwalk, into an operating bar. If you’re taking a tour, you may want to have a drink before going any further. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll definitely need one after.
The haunted museum is located beyond the bar. Beyond that is the crypt, which once temporarily stored piles of dead bodies. Try not to think about that if you decide to be daring and go inside.
Things get more bizarre upstairs. As you walk through the rooms filled with old furniture and eerie antiques, a guide shares paranormal stories about the building and its visitors, including tales of kids getting scratched and women strangled by ghosts.
I tend to romanticize the idea of xxx like aliens and ghosts, but the truth is, I’m an impartial skeptic about things I can’t see. That said, I’m convinced I met a ghost. And I liked it. Now I want to meet more.
The Washoe Club and Haunted Museum is located at 112 S C Street, along the boardwalk in Virginia City. It’s 25 miles from Reno and 425 miles from Las Vegas.