Nevada - Southwest

Round Mountain mining area. Mine operations as seen from former town of Round Mountain.

Round Mountain mining area. Looking down into the main pit, from the former town of Round Mountain. To get a sense of the size, note that the vehicles in the bottom of the pit are similar to the vehicles seen in nearby pictures.

Round Mountain mining area. Mine operations as seen from former town of Round Mountain.

Round Mountain mining area. Looking across the pit, from former town of Round Mountain. Noted in the distance (near the center of the picture) are water tanks probably for the town of Hadley (hidden behind the berm.) Also noted are two of the huge earth hauling trucks on the far side of the pit.

Round Mountain mining area. Mine operations as seen from Round Mountain, including these operations which were above the former town.

Round Mountain mining area. What is left of the former town of Round Mountain, which is disappearing into the mine.

Round Mountain mining area. What is left of the former town of Round Mountain, which is disappearing into the mine.

Round Mountain mining area. A lone cooking range, waiting to become dust....in what is left of the former town of Round Mountain.

Round Mountain mining area. State route 378, at least it is still labeled that in the satellite view even though it now disappears into the mine. Now you take a gravel road that runs around the north of the mine.

Round Mountain mining area. What is left of the former town of Round Mountain, which is disappearing into the mine.

Round Mountain mining area. What is left of the former town of Round Mountain, which is disappearing into the mine.

Round Mountain mining area. What is left of the cemetery of former town of Round Mountain, which is disappearing into the mine.

Former U.S. Air Force buildings in Tonopah, now converted to various local government uses.

Tonopah and the area south of it have a long history of mining and exploration, but also have a modern history of strong connection to the Cold War. Nellis Air Force Range (see nearby picture) runs from near Tonopah, all the way down to just north of Las Vegas -- a distance of about 200 miles. This is the area where new secret aircraft are tested, where the nuclear bomb tests after WWII were conducted, and is the location of the super-secret military 'area 51'. Like much of rural Nevada, Tonopah's economic history is cyclic, though apparently not as cyclic as some of the other parts of the state. The mining industry was successful from the late 1800's into the early 20th century, with continuing activity into apparently the 1950's. Income from military families picked up after that and helped carry the area until the Cold War ended in the latter parts of the 20th century. The town now has many abandoned buildings, but it definitely continues to have an active, working population. As the nearby pictures will show, there's quite a bit to explore in the area. Unfortunately there's one drawback to exploring the Tonopah area -- for some reason there are almost no good campgrounds convenient to Tonopah. Thus I've been through the area a number of times, but the only times I've stayed there to explore were in the winter -- there's a good motel there.

Remains of WII Tonopah Army Airfield

Remains of WII Tonopah Army Airfield.

Hangar from Tonopah Air Field, which was a military base during WWII. Though the hangar is fairly deteriorated, it is still in use.

The crew for this helicopter had made an emergency stop at the Tonopah Airfield due to mechanical problems. They were taking the helicopter to Ecuador for moving materials at oil drilling sites.