Nelson sells itself as a ghost town in Eldorado Canyon, about 45 minutes from Las Vegas. It has the rusted cars, the old timber buildings and a plane crashed into a hillside.
We went once, with friends, and spent about forty minutes there. That was plenty. It is a curiosity, and fine if you happen to be passing, but it is not a ghost town, and it is not worth making the trip for.
An entry fee at the main building, then a photography charge on top that seemed to change from person to person. I paid nothing for mine. Someone else paid about $5.
One loop on foot. It is private property, reported open from 8am to 6pm, and everyone is asked to be off by dark.
Getting there
The drive is fine. Everything is paved, so there were no issues getting there in an ordinary car. It is a little long, though, and repetitive - the same kind of desert views the whole way down Eldorado Canyon. It is not one of the better drives out there.
Parking is a little confusing when you arrive. There is a lot across the street that is easy to get in and out of - use that.
Check in at the main building
You pay the entry fee in the main building. I have forgotten how much it was, which tells you something.
Photography is charged on top, and that is where it gets odd. The people running it seemed to charge a different price per person, per use. I did not have to pay anything for my filming, and I heard someone else was charged about five dollars.
While you are in there, find the bedroom. It has a giant alien standing in it, surrounded by random alien... stuff. It was the most unexpected thing all day, and a little bit tinfoil hat.
The church gives it away
The church sits about halfway round the loop, and it is the moment the whole thing stops pretending.
It is really well maintained, and it feels new - not what you expect from a supposedly abandoned town. That is because it is not abandoned. They hold weddings in it, and apparently they are pretty booked out.
The cars are the best part
The old cars and trucks were the bit I liked most. They are properly rusted, properly old, and good to look at up close.
But even they felt carefully placed. Every one of them is parked exactly where it photographs best.
An antique store, not a ghost town
That is the whole problem. Nelson is really manufactured. It is more an overblown antique store than a ghost town - a lot of old things, collected and set out, and no real original old structures to speak of.
It is also really small. You can walk the loop easily and move on.
There are drinks and bathrooms, but no food. There is a shop, but it is like a weird rejected antique store, and nothing I would call good.
The plane is a film prop
The plane wreck on the hillside is not a wreck. It is a prop from the 2001 film 3000 Miles to Graceland, which was shot here, and it stayed after filming.
It makes a fun photo - I got my crash-landing shot. But it is the clearest sign of what Nelson really is: a set.
If you go anyway
Treat it as an opportunistic stop, not a trip. If you are already out this way, it fills forty minutes. Do not drive out specially for it.
We went at noon at the end of May and it was not too bad - a decent breeze helped. It was not overly busy either, though there were other people about.
If I did it again, which I will not, I would pair it with one of the off-road routes out there. We drove past so many good-looking ones, and one of those would have made the drive feel worth it.
Find a real ghost town instead
If what you want is a real ghost town - original buildings, left where they stood - go to a real one.
Bodie, in California, is a state historic park and the real thing. It is around $8 per adult. The last three miles in are dirt, and at nearly 8,400 feet, snow can shut the road from mid-October, so check before you go.
Rhyolite, just outside Death Valley, is free and run by the Bureau of Land Management - about four miles west of Beatty and roughly 35 miles from Furnace Creek. Day use only, and nothing there but a latrine, so bring water. We have not made it yet. It is on the plan for our next Death Valley trip.
Who it is for
People who like old things, collected and arranged - curated, not authentic.
Skip it if you like real ghost towns, or places that are not run by curious collectors. I would not go back.
Don't do this one. If you want a ghost town, find a real one.