Overview

The Gold Butte Townsite is an interesting place to visit and commune with the mining and ranching history of this wild and rugged region. The townsite is the location of the historic mining town of Gold Butte, which was established in 1908. For the day, it was a full-service town with a post office and everything. Miners here extracted copper, gold, lead, and zinc from Gold Butte (the mountain) for several years. The area is littered with evidence of mining, including a deep near-vertical shaft, old equipment, the remains of old mills, and cement foundations, but all of the buildings are gone. The graves of Arthur Coleman and William Garrett give silent testament to two men who lived and worked together at Gold Butte from the 19-teens until they died in 1958 and 1961, respectively. They lived in a cabin that sat near the grave site.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this area is fairly safe, but there are old mines in the area, and holes in the ground are never safe to enter. The Gold Butte Region is a wild and remote area, and there are no services out there. The access road requires a high-clearance vehicle or a carefully driven sedan.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote hike, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Be sure to bring trash bags to clean up after people who care less about wild places than we do.

Getting to the Trailhead

Gold Butte Townsite is located out in the Gold Butte Region at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about 3 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From Las Vegas, drive out to Gold Butte. From Whitney Pocket (Table 1, Site 060), continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 20 miles on to the Gold Butte Townsite area, which is on the right side of the road. There are some corrals, and shortly after that is the main townsite (Site 100). It is across the road from the signed turnoff to Red Bluff Spring. Drive through the old gates and park near the big trees in the center of the large cleared area, which is the old townsite. Park here, this is it.

The Townsite

The things that can be seen from the center of the large cleared area are most of what remains. The grave sites of Arthur Coleman and William Garrett are on the east side of the cleared area, and the mine shaft and old equipment are on the west side. The cement foundations are near the center of the area.

Around the area, the road leading southeast from the grave sites leads to the foundation of an old mill. Little remains, but this and other things can be found by exploring the area. The road leading southwest from the covered mine shaft leads to several mining prospects. Other interesting things are scattered about: make it a treasure hunt and see what you can find.

Old kitchen equipment including a stove and refrigerator southeast of the grave sites. Not much remains, but it is interesting to see what Arthur and William had in the house.

When exploring about and finding interesting things, especially small things that fit in your pocket, please remember that this "junk" belongs to everyone, so leave it for your grandchildren to find and enjoy. Also, these items are more than 50 years old, so they are covered by the Antiquities Act, which makes it a crime to remove historic items. Trash is another matter; if you can, please help haul out some of the trash left here by thoughtless people.