International Car Forest of the Last Church -- 5/23/2019
Today's newsletter will be about another little-known hidden gem near Las Vegas. A 184-mile drive from downtown Las Vegas north on the US95 is the small ex-mining town of Goldfield Nevada. You can tell it used to have a thriving population, but today it is mostly abandoned, except for a few stores selling antiques and rocks. What makes it worthy of a visit is the International Car Forest, sometimes called the International Car Forest of the Last Church.
What you can expect to find is about 50 abandoned busses and cars, mostly sticking out of the ground as at the Cadillac Ranch in Texas, but scattered randomly over a large area. They are all covered in spray paint art, some of it quite good. I will let some pictures from my visit speak for themselves.
Driving between Las Vegas and Reno, I must have driven through Goldfield about a dozen times but never knew about nor saw the Car Forest. After I knew about it I was rebuffed because I traveled with company who were rushing me and didn't want to stop. It is located a bit outside of town on dirt roads, but can be seen from the US95 on the right side of the road as you enter the town, before making the turn. When you see the "Welcome to Goldfield" sign traveling north, just look to your right 90 degrees. You'll have to take dirt roads from there, which most cars will be able to handle easily.
There isn't a whole lot to do on the drive between Las Vegas and Reno. If you must make the drive, I highly recommend a visit to the Car Forest. That and the Clown Motel. Both will give you a taste of the quirky side of rural Nevada that few tourists see.
