ON THE ROAD
STATE-PARK WORTHY?
BY BOB BEERS

Ah, Lithium, the lightest of all metals. With a density about half that of water, it would float — if it didn’t vigorously react with water. At the molecular level, Lithium combined with carbonates eases the symptoms of bipolar mental illness. And the sole United States producer is here in Nevada.

Silver Peak is one of the oldest gold mining towns in the state, dating back to 1863. Dormant and empty from World War II, it came back to life in 1967 after some enterprising mining engineer figured out the brine underneath the dry lake could be pumped to the surface, and the salts left behind after evaporation were Lithium Carbonate, the bipolar pharmaceutical. Today, the valley floor is covered with evaporation ponds. One is just over a square mile in surface area.

Today, Silver Peak has one of just a few single-room school houses in the state, currently with 11 students enrolled, three of them children of the sole administrator/teacher.

Northbound from Goldfield on U.S. 95, the road to Silver Peak is a marked with a left (west) turn and is paved as far as the Alkali hot spring, which may well have been Nevada’s first “Destination Resort.” It served the early populations of Tonopah, Goldfield and Silver Peak.

At Alkali, the road transforms to a smooth dirt route. The last few miles are laid out right through the middle of the Lithium Carbonate evaporation ponds, complete with warnings that you’re sharing the road with heavy equipment. The trip provides a new perspective on American mental health.

Heading north out of Silver Peak, feel free to visit the historical marker for Blair, where you can discover a variety of treasures like handsome fragments of aged and purpled glass from the dumps that surround the old building foundations.

The highway north out of Silver Peak eventually meets U.S. 95 between Tonopah and Coaldale Junction — location of the proposed state park, Monte Cristo’s Castle.

Championed as a potential state park by an enterprising motel owner in nearby Tonopah, Monte Cristo’s Castle is an interesting but fragile three acres of heavily eroded ancient volcanic ash.

Access is via a dirt road directly across U.S. 95 from the road to and from Silver Peak. Follow this dirt road three miles north of U.S. 95 to an obvious clearing with a primitive rock fireplace. 

This is where my wife Sarah and I parked and began a westward hike. Within a half hour, we were navigating a dry waterfall carved through the ancient ash field deep enough to remind us of Southern Utah’s Canyon Country, only the rock fragments found in the gully of the canyon were far superior. Also notable, the canyon wall was sparsely decorated with birds’ nests, some populated with eggs.

Carved from fairly soft volcanic ash, this area could react to heavy foot traffic like Lithium reacts to water. A state park designation would certainly attract and increase visitors by the hundreds. I may be wrong — perhaps you should visit this stark and spectacular place yourself. LW