The 5 best small towns in Nevada, ranked
Historic wooden buildings on C Street in Virginia City, Nevada
Five towns under 25,000 people, ordered by how much a weekend rewards you.
The ranking
1. Virginia City — the Comstock Lode boomtown at 6,200 feet, C Street boardwalks, the Bucket of Blood Saloon, and the Fourth Ward School Museum. 25 minutes from Reno. 2. Genoa — Nevada's oldest settlement (1851), the Genoa Bar, and Mormon Station State Historic Park. Population 1,000, at the base of the Sierra. 3. Boulder City — the town built for the Hoover Dam workers, no gambling within city limits, historic Boulder Dam Hotel. 4. Ely — the White Pine County seat, Nevada Northern Railway (a working 1906 steam operation), and the gateway to Great Basin National Park. 5. Tonopah — the darkest skies in the lower 48, the Mizpah Hotel, and the Central Nevada Museum.
Virginia City wins because you can pack a genuine weekend into it. Tonopah is the reward for anyone who’ll drive the middle of the state.
What each is best for
Go to Virginia City for the Comstock history and the saloons; Genoa for a quiet Sierra base and a hot-springs stop at David Walley's; Boulder City if you’re doing Hoover Dam and Lake Mead without wanting Vegas noise. Ely is the anchor for Great Basin and the Nevada Northern's Fireman's Special ride — book that months out. Tonopah is a working night on a Vegas-to-Reno drive; the Mizpah is haunted and knows it.
Skips: Pahrump (fine, but strip malls, not a small town in feel) and Winnemucca (a working town, not a tourism town). Both have their moments but neither rewards a weekend.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Boulder City.
Genoa, established as a Mormon trading post in 1851 at the base of the Sierra Nevada, ten years before Nevada became a U.S. territory.
Tonopah. It's officially designated by the American Stargazers Association as one of the darkest towns in the country, with the closest big city (Las Vegas) 200 miles south.
