Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park

Berlin-Ichthyosaur combines two of Nevada's obsessions — ghost towns and prehistoric weirdness — into one improbable state park. Berlin was a silver-mining camp of 250 people from 1897 to 1911; when the ore ran out, the town simply stopped, and the wooden mill, assay office and miners' cabins were left to the desert. A mile up the canyon, palaeontologists in the 1950s uncovered the fossilised bones of nine ichthyosaurs — dolphin-shaped marine reptiles up to 55 feet long — from a shallow Triassic sea that covered central Nevada 225 million years ago. The state built a shelter around the dig and left the bones in situ.

Enter the park at the visitor kiosk and walk the self-guided ghost-town trail through Berlin: mill, cabins, the mine tunnel entrance and the cemetery on the hillside above. Continue by car up the gravel spur road one mile to the Fossil Shelter, a locked wooden barn opened only for guided tours. Inside, ranger-led 45-minute talks explain how the ichthyosaurs died stranded on a shoreline and how the bones were preserved. The upper campground has 14 sites at 7,000 feet under piñon pines — one of the best dark-sky camps in Nevada.

This is remote — the last 25 miles are graded gravel, and there is no gas, no food and no cell service in the park. Bring everything. Fossil Shelter tours run March through November, weekends only — check nevadastateparks.reserveamerica.com for the current schedule. Combine with the ghost town of Ione (10 miles further) or the Toiyabe Range trails. Skip in winter when the gravel access road turns to gumbo after any rain. Fill up in Gabbs (25 miles west) or Round Mountain (40 miles east).

Hours & entry

Not free

Park daily sunrise to sunset year-round · Fossil Shelter tours Sat-Sun 10:00 and 14:00 (Mar-Nov) · Visitor kiosk 24 hours

What to see

• The Fossil Shelter with in-situ ichthyosaur bones — One-mile spur road above the Berlin ghost town, locked shelter opened for tours
• Berlin stamp mill and assay office — Main ghost-town loop, first 500 metres from the visitor kiosk
• Diana Mine tunnel entrance — Signed side trail off the main ghost-town loop, 300 metres north of the mill

Tips from the ground

• Arrive Saturday morning for the 10am fossil-shelter tour — the afternoon slot fills fast in October.
• Bring layered clothing: 7,000 feet elevation means summer nights around 45°F.
• The gravel road can be done in a low-clearance car in dry weather but skip it entirely after storms.