BEATTY

Rolling into this little desert outpost feels like accidentally stumbling onto the set of an old Western — if the sheriff had long since given up and the tumbleweeds were running the place. Beatty’s got all the essentials: a gas station, a couple of bars that seem immune to the passage of time, and a casino where you can lose $20 faster than you can say “bad idea.” Just down the road, you’ll find Rhyolite, a ghost town where the buildings are mostly walls and the art installations are mostly nightmares. Even if you just stay here to get to Death Valley you’ll probably end up feeding a donkey whether you planned to or not.

Ryholite 

If you’ve ever looked at a desolate desert and thought, “You know what this needs? Giant, bizarre art,” then congratulations — you’re going to love this place. About 10mins from Beatty, hidden in the hills is Ryholite featuring the Goldwell Open Air Museum. This pops out of the dust like a disjointed hallucination nobody bothered to fact-check. Seven enormous art installations sit out in the middle of nowhere, because apparently Belgian artists decided Nevada needed more reasons to confuse tourists. Led by Albert Szukalski, they kicked off this open-air wonderland in 2000, and it’s been baffling and impressing visitors ever since. It’s open 24/7 because, honestly, who’s going to close a door on a giant ghost made of plaster? Best of all, admission is free — which is perfect, because you’ll need to save your money for snacks, donkey bribes, and possibly therapy after dark.