Nevada may be referred to as the "Silver State", but it could just as easily be called the "Ghost Town State". We're home to dozens of ghost towns and they make for pretty awesome places to explore. Most of them are old mining booms towns, leftover from the Gold Rush era. They've sat abandoned in the desert for over a century, waiting for the next urban explorer to stumble across them. The town featured here is no different, except for one thing. It might be the most serene ghost town of them all. Aptly named Paradise Valley, Nevada, this place is just that—paradise.
Hiding about 50 miles north of Winnemucca is the beautiful Santa Rosa Mountain Range. Back in the day, it was rumored that gold was hiding in these mountains and four prospectors stopped here to look for it in 1864.
This led to the creation of a little town called Paradise Valley. As legend has it, one of the prospectors declared "What a paradise!" upon seeing the valley...and hence the town's name came to be. It doesn't look like much and it's located in the middle of nowhere, but it's easy to see why it earned the name.
Today, Paradise Valley is a ghost town. Well, a living ghost town. About 100 people still call this place home but with only one actual business in town, it doesn't have much to offer for tourists.
The most fascinating aspect of this town is the fact that so many of the town's original buildings are still standing. Many of the structures are boarded up and haven't seen a soul in decades, but there's something oddly beautiful about them.
The downtown area is surprisingly well-preserved, even the old Mercantile looks pretty good! Most ghost towns contain only a few disintegrating and unidentifiable structures, so this is a particularly unique sight.
The town is home to just one restaurant: the Paradise Valley Saloon & Bar. Stop for a drink and introduce yourself to the locals. They probably have some pretty interesting stories to tell.
This secluded hamlet of a town is a must for ghost town enthusiasts. It may not look like much, but there's a reason the town has retained a small population for so many years. It truly is a little paradise hiding in the Nevada desert.
Have you visited Paradise Valley, Nevada? It looks just like heaven! Of the many Nevada ghost towns, Paradise Valley is a nice change from the eerie looking ghost towns that are so common in our state. Just look at our list of the creepiest ghost towns In Nevada. For those looking to keep up that creepy feeling, we recommend visiting some of these intriguingly frightening haunted places in Nevada.
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