Embrace Cowboy Life on a Family Trip to Ely, Nevada

Saddle up on a Wild West-inspired trip to Ely, Nevada, where family travelers can immerse in its saloons, vintage architecture and small-town feel. Ely sits on the Eastern edge of “The Loneliest Highway,” originally founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express.

© Visit White Pine County

Ely is a great way to expose young travelers to Western culture. At Nevada Northern Railway Museum, visitors can experience an actual working railroad, complete with excursions on steam and diesel locomotives.

The Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park features six beehive-shaped charcoal ovens once used to process silver in the 1800s. These ovens were also rumored to shelter stagecoach bandits running from the law.

© Visit White Pine County

This year also marks the 65^th anniversary of White Pine Public Museum. With exhibits on mining history and geology, an old jail cell, and an original one-room schoolhouse, visitors can relive the past of Nevada’s miners, pioneers and ranchers.

Tour original miner cabins in Ely Renaissance Village. This village includes historic artifacts of an era representing the copper-mining heyday.

White Pine Public Museum © Visit White Pine County

Ely’s spirit of the West also means annual events like the White Pine County Fair and Horseraces (Nevada’s oldest horse race), White Pine Productions Ranch Rodeos, Lund Rodeo and Pioneer Days, and the Pony Express Reride.

Beyond Ely, the county is home to more than 20 ghost towns frozen in time with original preserved structures.