Nevada

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Tom Kelly’s Bottle House

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Rhyolite, NV

Located off Highway 374 just west of Beatty in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Tom Kelly’s Bottle House is worth a stop on the way to Death Valley. Constructed in 1906 during the gold rush, Kelly built his masterpiece from 51,000 beer bottles, adobe and mud. And since there were some 50 bars in town, there was never a shortage of building materials. As for Kelly’s motivation and reasoning for his chosen medium, he was often known to say that it was easier to build a home from beer bottles than it was to mill lumber from the native Joshua trees. Kelly’s creation is easy to find too — just follow the signs to it from Rhyolite Road. And the good news is, there’s an accessible parking pad and a level sidewalk over to the house. The bottle house sits behind a fence to protect it from vandals, but it’s sometimes opened for private tours. Still you can get an excellent gander at the house from the sidewalk near the entrance.

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Death Valley National Park
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Thunder Mountain

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Imlay, Nevada

Located along a barren stretch of Interstate 80 in Northwestern Nevada, Thunder Mountain offers motorists a much needed — and somewhat entertaining — break between Reno and Winnemucca. It’s easy to find too — just take exit 145, turn east, and then make a left turn on the frontage road. Soon the asphalt is replaced by dirt, and then gravel, before the first remnants of Frank Van Zant’s paradise lost comes into view on the left.

As the story goes, an old Creek medicine woman told Frank that in the final days there shall rise up a place called Thunder Mountain, and only those that lived there would survive the apocalypse. So he set out to build this mythical place of refuge after his car broke down along the interstate. Shortly thereafter he changed his name to Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder as he set to work to craft his mansion patterned after Tom Kelly’s Bottle House in Rhyolite (emerginghorizons.com/tom-kellys-bottle-house/). It all began with his travel trailer, which he parked in the sagebrush and covered in concrete. That was in 1968. Sadly Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder committed suicide in 1989, and although the elements — and sadly some vandals — have taken their toll on this creation over the years, it’s still worth a visit.

As far as access goes, it’s doable for many folks. There’s no striped parking, but there’s plenty of room to park an adapted van in the large dirt parking area next to the entrance. From there; it’s a level roll to the front gate which is 35 inches wide. Inside the compound, the pathways around the sculptures, homes and exhibits are flat, and although there’s a bit or gravel here and there, it’s easy to dodge.

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Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon
National Parks
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Goldwell Open Air Museum

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1 Golden Street
Beatty, NV
goldwellmuseum.org

Located on the way to Rhyolite — and Tom Kelley’s Bottle House (www.emerginghorizons.com/tom-kellys-bottle-house) — this unique open-air sculpture installation is definitely worth a stop. From Beatty, head west on Highway 374 for about four miles, then turn right on Rhyolite Road. Take the first left on the road – look for a miner with a penguin – and you’ve found the museum. It’s really pretty hard to miss. There’s parking in a level dirt area, and usually there’s plenty of room for an adapted van. A small information center that’s ramped in the back is located nearby. The information center is open periodically, but even if it’s closed you can still pick up a brochure about the artwork.

The sculptures are dotted throughout the desert, with mostly level paths covered in gravel leading out and around them. That said, you can get a good look at the bulk of them from the information center, so it’s worth a stop even if you can’t negotiate the paths. The sculptures range from a ghostly interpretation of the Last Supper, to the more traditional Tribute to Shorty Harris, a legendary Rhyolite prospector. And there are even a few pieces that visitors can sit or lean on, and snap a selfie or two.

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Road Trips
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Desert Tortoise

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565 E. Main Street
Fernley, NV

This lone sculpture sits on the side of the road just off Interstate 80 in Fernley. At one time the Bottle Cap Gazebo stood nearby, but it was permanently removed in 2024. To be fair, that piece was originally designed as a temporary structure for Burning Man in 2014; so it’s impressive that it braved the elements for as long as it did. Still the tortoise is worth a quick stop. To find it, take exit 48 off of interstate 80 and follow the signs to Fernley. Keep right on Main Street, and look for the tortoise on the right, across the street from the 76 gas station.

Although the parking lot is composed of gravel, there’s also an accessible parking spot on a cement pad, with a level sidewalk over the Desert Tortoise. This permanent installation was created by artist Pan Pantoja, with assistance from Fernley Elementary School’s fourth-graders.

This 25-foot long and 17-foot tall sculpture was crafted from boulders from a local quarry and decorated with hand painted ceramic tiles that reflect the culture of Fernley and the surrounding area. Although the vision and execution came from Pantoja, the fourth-graders supplied the artist with the creative tiles. There’s level access around the sculpture which weighs in at an impressive 70 tons, and there’s also a smaller slab covered with leftover tiles located next to the tortoise.

It’s a good place to stretch your legs, and a fun photo op, while tooling along Interstate 80 through the desert.

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Big Bovine of the Desert

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Amargosa Valley, NV

You just can’t miss Alphie — also known as the Big Bovine of the Desert — when you cruise down Highway 373 near the California-Nevada border. This 14-foot tall fiberglass bovine is located right next door to the Longstreet Inn and Casino. And although she’s a local favorite, she’s really a Las Vegas transplant. Considered a part of Nevada history, Alphie originally stood under a brightly colored rainbow clad in her Blues Brothers sunglasses, on the roof of the Holy Cow Casino and Brewery. The Holy Cow closed in 2002, and Jim Marsh, the owner of the Longstreet Inn and Casino, snapped Alphie up for a cool $2,220. And the rest, as they say, is history. There’s plenty of parking in a level asphalt lot next to Alphie, and you can roll right over to her for the photo op. The Big Bovine of the Desert is definitely worth the short side trip from Death Valley (emerginghorizons.com/barrier-free-travel-death-valley-for-wheelers-and-slow-walkers/#itin-1).

Barrier-Free TravelDeath Valley National Parkfor Wheelchair-Users and Slow Walkers Buy the Book

Barrier-Free Travel
Death Valley National Park
for Wheelchair-Users and Slow Walkers

Buy the Book