Ely, NV

Ely is a small high-desert city in White Pine County in eastern Nevada, with a population of roughly four thousand people. It sits at an elevation of more than six thousand feet along U.S. Route 50, the stretch famously nicknamed the "Loneliest Road in America," and it has a quiet, weathered character shaped by its mining and railroad past. The town is best known as the principal gateway to Great Basin National Park, and it also serves travelers crossing the wide, sparsely populated basin-and-range country of the Great Basin. The nearest major city is Salt Lake City, which lies about 230 miles to the northeast and roughly a four-hour drive away; Las Vegas is much farther, around 280 miles to the southwest.

Just over an hour's drive east of town, Great Basin National Park anchors the region's appeal. The park encompasses Wheeler Peak, where bristlecone pine groves and a small cluster of alpine glaciers sit above the desert, along with the guided limestone passages of Lehman Caves. Its exceptionally dark skies have made it a popular destination for stargazing, and the contrast between the sagebrush flats around Ely and the high-country forest inside the park draws hikers, climbers, and casual sightseers across the seasons.

Right in downtown Ely, the Nevada Northern Railway Museum preserves one of the best-preserved short-line railroads in the country. Visitors can tour the original 1906 engine house and ride a restored steam or diesel train along a stretch of the historic copper-haul line that once connected Ely to the outside world, giving the town a hands-on railroad heritage that few small Western towns can match.

A short drive southeast of Ely, Cave Lake State Park sits in the Schell Creek Range and offers trout fishing, camping, and a popular swim beach in a narrow mountain canyon. The park's cool, pine-shaded setting stands in sharp contrast to the open valley below, and it tends to draw visitors from late spring through the first snowfall. Nearby, the beehive-shaped stone kilns of Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park preserve the remnants of a nineteenth-century charcoal-making operation that once supplied the region's smelters, and they double as a photogenic overnight stop for travelers exploring the back roads south of town.

Ely's combination of historic small-town character, a celebrated national park almost on its doorstep, and its position along one of America's most iconic cross-country drives makes it a natural base for short-term rentals. Guests can spend the day hiking under bristlecone pines or riding a heritage steam train and return in the evening to a quiet, walkable downtown with a clear, star-filled sky overhead, a setting that increasingly appeals to road-trippers, dark-sky tourists, and travelers seeking an off-the-beaten-path Nevada experience.