BOULDER CITY + NELSON

I’ve spent a weird amount of off-strip time in Las Vegas for your average person, so on my more recent trips to Vegas I’ve made a specific effort to get out and about to prove there’s more around here than you may think there would be.

This photo set is dedicated to Boulder City & the ghost town of Nelson, down near the Arizona line. I can’t get enough of these places.

These are good days, then there are desert days. Unstructured, wandering, looking at whatever speaks to you. I spent my time here shopping for some of the best antiques I’ve ever seen, hanging at a diner, and chatting with an ex Hollywood SFX artist who opened his own Monster Museum to showcase the art of SFX horror makeup. I had no plan when I came to this town, so each turn the day took was a much welcomed surprise.

Then I drove a bit further Nelson, my actual end game destination of the day trip.

Don’t ask me for the history of this town because I didn’t bother to ask I was so overstimulated. It’s sprawling, every inch covered in things to stare at. It’s hard to romanticize a place like this when the work has already been done for you.

For real, what would it be like to live here I wonder? As I was putting this together I took a Google. break to see the population, which is higher than I thought at 24 citizens. What’s their story? I have to know?