An arty Nevada road trip

Nevada is the ideal destination for an adventurous road trip and there is plenty of hidden culture to discover along the roadside.

Explore the many public art exhibits dotted across the desert.

Follow the state’s ‘Free-range Art Highway’ for iconic sculptures by famous artists and art pieces that have seemingly popped out of the ground.

It takes travellers from Las Vegas to Reno, and the ‘Cowboy Corridor’ from Reno to West Wendover, where the roads are worth taking slowly.

Seven Magic Mountains

Created by Renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondine and in collaboration with Nevada Museum of Art, Seven Magic Mountains are a permanent iconic fixture in the Nevada desert. The three-storey high towers sit just off Interstate 15, built from rocks sourced from the surrounding desert in vivid colours. The sculpture intends to symbolise the natural and artificial with its materials and colours. Its location also adds to its significance, sitting between mountain ranges and Jean Dry Lake.

International Car Forest of The Last Church

Just off Highway 95 in Goldfield is one of Nevada’s most unique attractions, the International Car Forest of the Last Church. This is a collection of abandoned cars buried nose down. It was created by long-time Goldfield resident Mark Rippie who wanted to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest car forest. Joined by artists Chad Sort and Zak Sargent, the three buried the noses of more than 40 vehicles to create this forest of cars. Each car has become unique in its design, with some balanced-on top of each other, and new artists are commissioned to create an ever changing gallery that visitors can explore for free.

Goldwell Open Air Museum

This weird sculpture park sits just off the road towards Death Valley, covering almost eight acres. It is home to seven huge structures created by a group of well-known Belgian artists. Open 24/7 with no admission fee, the park’s sculptures are permanent fixtures of the Mojave Desert, including a 25-foot pink woman and a 24-foot steel prospector and a penguin. One of the park’s most famous sculptures is a ghostly recreation of Leonardo Davinci’s ‘The Last Supper’. The artist, Albert Szukalski, was attracted to the Mojave Desert due to its resemblance to the deserts of the Middle East.

Thunder Mountain Monument

Just by Nevada’s I-80 sits Thunder Mountain Monument, a massive handmade open-air gallery and sculpture garden, created by the late Frank Van Zant, otherwise known as Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder. Van Zant created the gallery using artefacts and other items he found in the Nevada desert as a way to honour American Indian heritage. Admission is free but donations are appreciated to help preserve the site.