Ely brims with scenery, history and attractions
Sitting at the junction of three major highways, Ely is a natural hub for travelers in eastern Nevada. The tourist-friendly town encourages visitors to stay awhile and sample the scenery, history, attractions and adventures this part of rural Nevada has to offer.
The town boasts a busy schedule of special events and activities, especially during the summer vacation season, when there are rodeos, horse races, a bathtub race, a county fair and more.
Ely started out as a Pony Express station and an overland stage stop and was named in 1878 for an early mining boss. The town gained importance in 1887 when it became the seat of White Pine County. Ely boomed in 1906 after the discovery of rich copper deposits nearby.
The town nestles in the hills below the world’s largest open-pit copper mine. Situated at 6,400 feet elevation, Ely experiences freezing nighttime temperatures all but four months of the year. Its cold, snowy winters are ideal for a variety of winter sports, and summertime visitors enjoy comfortable conditions and a break from the fierce summers of Nevada’s desert areas.
Ely is 242 miles from Las Vegas along scenic U.S. 93, the Great Basin Highway, which junctions there with U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 50. It is central to ghost towns, archaeological sites, scenic drives, a wildlife viewing site, off-road vehicle routes, hiking trails, fishing in area streams and ponds and hunting.
Ely has lived through several booms and busts common in mining towns.
When Kennecott Copper closed its operations near Ely in the early 1970s, it left behind a legacy for the town. Today, Kennecott’s corporate offices, railroad yard, depot, miles of track and vintage rolling stock make for an interesting historical attraction: the Nevada Northern Railway.
In operation as a company railroad for more than 60 years, the Nevada Northern has been restored and turned into a renowned rail museum. It offers a busy schedule of excursion trains, as well as guided tours of the yards and other facilities. Find more information and book fares online at nnry.com.
As you drive in downtown Ely, you cannot miss the statues and large murals decorating many building walls, promoted by the local Renaissance Society. They depict historical events in Ely’s past and show the diversity of cultures attracted to the remote Nevada outpost. Popular art walks follow the works in the compact downtown area.
The society also maintains Renaissance Village, a collection of 12 shotgun houses and a barn built more than a century ago. History buffs will particularly enjoy the White Pine County Museum located downtown not far from the handsome 1909 courthouse, which is still in use, and the historic Nevada Hotel and Gambling Hall, built in 1929.
Great Basin National Park, Nevada’s only national park, is about an hour’s drive from Ely. The park offers cave tours, hiking, camping, fishing, astronomy programs and scenic drives in the forests surrounding lofty Wheeler Peak, one of the highest mountains in the state.
Cave Lake State Park and Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park are a few miles south of Ely off U.S. 93. Visitors to Cave Lake can continue on the Success Summit Road, one of the most scenic side roads in Nevada, and return on a loop to U.S. 93 north of Ely.
Margo Bartlett Pesek’s Trip of the Week column appears on Sundays.