A 100-acre silver camp park preserving original shafts, a 500-foot illuminated stope, and the memory of two fatal mine fires — the visitor center's reported haunting is linked to a fugitive who died in Tonopah.
520 McCulloch Ave, Tonopah, NV 89049
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Self-guided tour and guided Polaris UTV tour options; see website for current rates. Admission required.
Access
Limited Access
Desert terrain with mine shafts, waste dumps, and unpaved roads across 100 acres. Underground areas require navigating low clearance and uneven rock surfaces.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1900 · Jim Butler silver discovery 1900, launched 'Queen of the Silver Camps' · Belmont Mine fires 1911 and 1942 killed workers · $121 million in silver production through active mining period · 100-acre preserved mine site with illuminated 500-foot stope
Jim Butler was a rancher and part-time prospector who, according to the standard account, stopped on the slope of Mount Oddie in May 1900 and broke off a rock sample that assayed out at extraordinary silver values. The discovery triggered a rush to central Nevada. By 1901 the Tonopah Mining Company had been organized and within a few years the district was producing millions of dollars in silver annually.
At its peak in the mid-1910s, Tonopah was a city of approximately 20,000. The mine district's total silver output has been estimated at over $121 million through the active mining period. The underground workings extended deep into the mountain, creating the network of shafts and drifts that the park now preserves. The Belmont Mine — one of the principal workings — suffered two major fires, one in 1911 and one in 1942. Both fires killed workers, the 1911 event being among the more significant industrial accidents in the district's history.
Mining activity in Tonopah declined through the 1940s and 1950s as ore grades fell. The Tonopah Historic Mining Park was established to preserve the surface and near-surface features of the central mining zone, covering 100 acres. The park includes original mine shafts, waste rock dumps, a cave-in site, and an illuminated 500-foot stope — an open ore-body excavation — that visitors can enter on guided tours. A visitor center on McCulloch Avenue serves as the park's entry point.
The park is operated by the City of Tonopah with support from local tourism interests. It sits adjacent to the Mizpah Hotel, the Clown Motel, and the Old Tonopah Cemetery — making this block of central Tonopah one of the more concentrated dark-history and paranormal-interest corridors in Nevada.
Sources
The paranormal lore at Tonopah Historic Mining Park concentrates on two areas: the visitor center and the deeper tunnel sections. In the visitor center, the reported presence is attributed by local tradition to Bina Verrault — identified in regional accounts as a fugitive who died in Tonopah, though the specific circumstances of Verrault's death are not documented in historical public records consulted for this build.
In the underground portions of the park, visitors and investigators describe a shadow figure referred to as 'the Watcher' — a stationary or slowly moving dark form observed in tunnel sections that should be unoccupied. Separately, phantom lantern lights have been reported moving through shafts independent of tour equipment or modern lighting, a phenomenon that investigators connect to the historical practice of miners carrying oil lamps through the same passages.
The mine fires of 1911 and 1942 at the Belmont Mine are the documented deaths associated with the site. Whether the underground paranormal accounts are connected specifically to fire victims or to the broader accumulation of mining-era deaths and accidents in the district is not specified in available sources.
Tonopah's concentration of dark-history sites — the mining park, the Clown Motel, the Mizpah Hotel, and the Old Tonopah Cemetery within a few blocks — has made it a documented destination on Nevada paranormal itineraries, and the mining park appears in multiple paranormal travel accounts.
Notable Entities
A guided Polaris UTV tour covers the 100-acre park including original mine shafts, waste dumps, and the illuminated 500-foot stope. The tour incorporates the history of the 1900 silver discovery that launched Tonopah and the two Belmont Mine fires of 1911 and 1942.
Walk the grounds and enter accessible mine areas at your own pace. Includes the Mizpah and Desert Queen shafts, the panoramic views of the Tonopah basin, and the visitor center where paranormal reports are concentrated.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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