Note: Make sure you fuel up, get extra food and water, and bring a spare tire and tire changing equipment just in case!  This area is remote, even though there is a very small town of Silver Peak nearby. [section label=”The Trail”]

We found a sign that gave us more information about Blair:

The Pittsburgh-Silver Peak Gold Mining Company bought the major mines in the area in 1906.  Land speculators at nearby Silver Peak bought up the land.  As a result, the mining company surveyed a new townsite north of Silver Peak and named it Blair.  The company built a 100-stamp mill in 1907.  The company also constructed the 17.5 mile Silver peak railroad from Blair Junction to the Tonopah & Goldfield main line.

By 1920, Blair was all but deserted.  The remnants of stone buildings and mill foundations are the only survivors of a once thriving, but short-lived, mining town.

We could drive right up to the first buildings that you see from the dirt road.  I recommend a high-clearance vehicle though. Just like the sign says, there isn’t much left besides some building foundations and some buildings.  These are really neat to see!  Please do not vandalize these historical monuments like previous visitors did.  Just enjoy them with your eyes and camera. We also took the short walk up to the old mill foundations.  This mill was gigantic! It’s crazy to think that such a building existed in such a remote area.   There are tons of artifacts and relics around the ghost town.  Watch your feet!  We found lots of old nails and sharp pieces of metal.  There aren’t any open mines nearby.  It’s all just about the ghost town. In total, we hiked about a mile and spent about a 45 minutes.  It was easy hiking and mostly just open desert walking. Here are some historical photos of Blair I got from Wikipedia:

  Here are pictures from our trip: