Beatty Days draws visitors for three days of fun and games

Located along U.S. 95 about 115 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Beatty selected the Nevada Day weekend, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, for its annual Beatty Days, an observance of the town’s founding. The community of about 1,200 residents welcomes hundreds of visitors during three days of festivities.

Events aimed at entertaining participants and observers include a Saturday morning parade and many old-fashioned, family-friendly games, contests, races and exhibits all weekend. The Saturday bed races remain among the most popular of several hilarious events. Youngsters get plenty of opportunities to compete in the Friday Halloween contest, the hula-hoop contest at noon Saturday and the pet parade at noon on Sunday.

Events attract many kinds of visitors. Bikers arrive for the motorcycle show, poker run and games. Old car buffs enjoy the antique car show. The historical re-enactments, exhibit of antique engines and machinery and the model railroads appeal to those interested in regional history. The quick-draw contest, whiskerino competition and horse-drawn wagon rides have an Old West appeal. All weekend long, live music, community breakfasts, chili and Dutch oven cook-offs and much more provide plenty of variety.

The parade takes over the main street at 10 a.m. Saturday. Most other events take place in the city park or the community center. Activities run from early morning until dark, except for Sunday’s schedule, which ends at 2 p.m. The community breakfast sponsored by the local Lions’ Club offers hearty fare on Saturday and Sunday from 8-10 a.m. Vendors in the park provide a variety of food and beverage options for lunch and snacks all weekend. Visitors are on their own in the evenings.

Although Beatty lies within a two-hour drive of Las Vegas, many of those attending or participating in Beatty Days prefer to stay longer than a day in the old town. Beatty offers a limited number of motel rooms and RV park spaces for visitors planning to stay overnight. Reserve a room or a space soon, as the town fills up fast. Overnighters also might consider nearby accommodations or campgrounds in Death Valley National Park. In the vicinity, consider Death Valley Junction’s old hotel, the Longstreet Casino Resort in Amargosa Valley or motels in Pahrump or Shoshone, Calif.

While in Beatty, learn more about the town’s history at the Beatty Museum and Historical Society at 417 Main St., open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibits and artifacts recall Beatty’s early years more than a century ago. Find out what the town was like when mining was king in the area. The little town that grew up along the Amargosa River near several ranches once boasted a busy railroad. The town survives today as a major portal to Death Valley National Park and as a stop along U.S. 95, Nevada’s lifeline between Las Vegas and the Reno-Carson City area.

The museum also preserves and interprets information and artifacts from the Bullfrog Mining District and Beatty’s colorful neighbor, Rhyolite, just four miles distant. Once one of Nevada’s largest cities, Rhyolite’s few remaining buildings and numerous ruins provide glimpses of yesteryear. Its depot once served three railroads. A tiny house built of more than 50,000 cast-off bottles stands as Nevada’s best example of this unusual kind of construction. Stark ruins of commercial buildings in Rhyolite remain among the most photographed structures in the Silver State.

Along the road to the ghost town, several ghostly figures command attention. Stop by the Goldwell Open Air Museum to view outdoor statues and other artistic expressions using materials discarded in the desert. The spectral figures seem especially appropriate for visitation during Halloween weekend.

Margo Bartlett Pesek’s column appears on Sundays.