Vegas Roadtrip

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Abandoned hotel with adjacent lake and golf course.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

An exotic wildlife habitat right off The Strip.

In the middle of the desert, miles from any human life, sat an anomalous pay phone that still magically answers your calls.

A volcanic tunnel illuminated by natural skylights offers a shaded respite from the desert sun.

An 1870s ranch for pioneers, rodeo stars, and divorcees was abandoned and left for dead, until the city reopened it for exploration.

The abandoned train depot now doubles as a well-placed rest stop for those who take the road less traveled.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.

Graffiti-covered ruins that were once part of a farm owned by a mental hospital.

A picture-perfect town, perfect for blowing up.

A mining town once rife with murderous disputes over its copious treasures now creates income as a popular spot for photo shoots.

Twelve plaster figures inspired by da Vinci's famed painting haunt the desert landscape above a real-life ghost town.

The hike through a narrow river flanked by the 2,000-foot-tall walls of Zion Canyon is one of the best in the world.

Now a city park, this site started as a stage stop, then was a working ranch, and finally became a dude ranch that specialized in letting wannabe divorcees establish Nevada residency.