Overview

Gold Butte Townsite is a fairly popular undeveloped camping area way out in the desert nestled up against the granite-boulder strewn Gold Butte Peak, which was the original center of mining activity in the region with a town of some 2,000 souls.

There is no water, and there are no toilets, no trash cans, and no picnic tables. Bring what you need and take it home when you leave. There is truck parking a couple of miles west on Interstate-15 where campers can dump trash without taking it back to Las Vegas.

Several campsites are scattered around the area. The main campsite, suitable for several large trailers and RVs, is located on the open flats. The remaining sites are smaller and arranged along the various roads.

This is an interesting place to visit and commune with the history and scenery of this wild and rugged region.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a wild and remote area without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. Someone will find you eventually if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two. Cell phones only work along parts of the paved road.

While visiting the Townsite area, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials, even if you leave them in the car.

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

Getting to Gold Butte Townsite Camp Area

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

From town, drive out the paved Gold Butte Road for 21 miles to Whitney Pocket where the pavement ends. Continue south on the scenic unpaved Gold Butte Road for 19.8 miles to a cattle guard that marks entry into the Townsite area.

At about 0.4 miles past the cattle guard (20.2 miles total), Gold Butte Townsite Road East (Site 1648) forks left into the Townsite area, proper. Notice at this point a road sign for Red Bluff Spring Road (Site 0806) on the right several yards ahead. Angle left (southwest) onto Gold Butte Townsite Road East. In a few yards, the road runs through an old fenceline and into Gold Butte Townsite, proper, which is an open area about 110 yards wide.

Gold Butte Townsite Camps

Nestled up against Gold Butte Peak, the Townsite camps provide grand views out across the desert. From the main open area, sunset views are big and grand, while from the other sites, sunset brings relief from afternoon heat as the sun sinks into the rocky outcrops and ridges.

This area also is a good kick-off point for ATVs following some of the 500 miles of open road in Gold Butte National Monument. Rough roads run throughout the townsite area and lead west and south, looping into Cedar Basin.

There is a fair bit of historic mining equipment scattered around the Gold Butte Townsite area. These items, even the large ones, seem to be disappearing, so be careful with what you clean up and don't remove items of historic interest.