berlin-ichthyosaur state park

We visited in February, 2015 during a period of unseasonably good weather. In "normal" winter weather, one is well advised to call the park and check on travel conditions. We stopped in Gabbs for a hotel room and a bite to eat and came over via State Highway 844, which is a pretty drive on a well-maintained paved route.When you come over the west side of the valley on 844, you can see the ghost town of Berlin ahead on the far side, huddled against the eastern face of the valley. The largest and most easily recognized building is the mill. Driving up, you turn off the highway onto a wide, well-kept dirt road towards the park. There is an "iron ranger" into which you deposit your entry fee; $7 per vehicle for day use, $10 per vehicle to camp. There are brochures there also which give you information about the park.The remaining buildings of Berlin are in good "arrested decay" condition, much like Bodie CA. The remains of Berlin are much smaller than Bodie. Driving through the town, it's easy to stop at whichever buildings catch your eye. There are many locations of former buildings as well, indicated by raised plaques that make them easy to locate. There are tours available during the summer months which we will come back to take.Continuing on through the park, you pass by the ruins of the Mayette Mill, then into Union Canyon and through the site of the ghost town of Union. There is a preserved adobe house there and the sites of other buildings as well as the site of the Union Mine.Near Union, there is a cutoff towards the campground. It is very clean with large pullouts, water hydrants and pit toilets throughout. RVers should have no trouble getting their rigs in and out in good weather. From the west side of the campgrounds, you can get a very good view over the valley floor.Returning to Union Canyon Road, you pass a shaded picnic ground, then come to the cabin in which Dr. Camp, researcher of the ichthyosaur fossils, lived while studying them. Past the cabin is the road leading up to the fossil site. The fossil site is covered by a modernistic building which is easily visible as you enter Union Canyon. There is a level parking area at the top, in front of the building. When tours are not available, as was the case when we were visiting, there are large windows through which one can observe the fossils, which still lie in place, and displays explaining what you see. There is one fossil example outside the building, which, if you didn't know what you were looking for, looks like a line of rocks. When we left the park, we headed north to the "Town That Refused to Die", Ione. It's about 5 miles north on Highway 844, which at that point is the same well-graded dirt road. It's passable by 2WD vehicles when dry, although deep ruts show that when wet, the road can become a little difficult. Ione is another old mining town, although it literally refuses to become a ghost town. It's best known for the Ore House Saloon, which unfortunately was closed when we came through.Turning around in Ione, the visitor may return to Highway 844 and back towards Gabbs, or do as we did (4WD recommended) and proceed north through Buffalo Canyon, reaching Highway 2/722 just south of Highway 50. This highway intersects Highway 50 just east of Highway 361. It's a nice drive through some pretty country, but maybe a little too rough in places for the average 2WD car. Any pickup or other vehicle with clearance is good to go when it's dry, 4WD definitely required when wet.If you're heading west, you'll find a good cafe at Middlegate Station, just south of Highway 50 on Highway 361. There is a hotel there, also, which I did not have a chance to check out.

This park is interesting if you want to go somewhere that is way out of normal society. The ghost town has a lot of replicas from past times and the fossils are interesting. The park ranger was quite knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. Take a picnic lunch and the kids if you go. There is plenty of room to run and play.

I would say Berlin is a small scale version of Bodie CA. It was interesting to see all the old buildings and it was great that everything had a small plaque stating what you were looking at. Definitely a well kept ghost town. We drove up to the Ichthyosaur Park but there were a lot of people milling around with zero clue as to when the next tour would begin. I did peek through the building windows and I'm sure if my 11 y/o were with me he'd have found it exciting and I would have done the tour. But to me it just wasn't worth waiting around for. Take the time to drive over to Ione, it's worth the quick drive to see this tiny town "that refused to die".

First, Robin our Nevada State Ranger was very knowledgeable. Yes you are looking at what look like a bunch of rocks, but with his knowledge and green laser pointer, he shows you these mighty fossils laying on and in the soil. AND he is quite the jokester. Hard to imagine these great beasts swimming in the primordial oceans, before the great land masses divided. And they even know what probably killed them, A RED TIDE. Since these beasties did not have gills, ask Robin how that happened.

This ghost town and fossil site is an easy 3 hour drive from the Reno-Sparks area. There is a fee at the gate and the rangers are extremely helpful. It is hard to believe anyone lived way out here back during Berlin's short gold rush, much less was able to find the place. The well preserved buildings and 88 informational signs are interesting and educational, particularly for kids. The ranger told us they once had a group of 150 kids camping out at the same time. There are short and long hiking trails. The mining site tour is only on weekends.The ichthyosaur fossil site is a short drive up into the hills past Berlin. It is well worth a visit. They built the museum around a fossil site, which is very cool. The museum is kept locked and there are timed tours, so be sure to check their website before your visit. We got there well ahead of the 2pm tour, but the ranger was kind enough to unlock the main building and let us look around. There was only one other couple besides our group, so a weekday is the way to go. This is the best ghost town site I have visited in Nevada.

The Berlin icthyosaur fossils have been on our To Do list for years and I have to say, I was slightly underwhelmed by the site. Maybe I had built it up too much in my mind, or maybe it's because the oft-mentioned and enthusiastic Robin wasn't there, but the fossil site itself-tho cool-was disappointing. The park ranger, tho excedingly pleasant, merely handed us a booklet about the fossils and said "let me know if you have any questions".... These are death words to spawning interest with children. Now, i must say he DID answer our questions very congenially... Or should I say 'my' questions ...because that unintentional killjoy intro immediately nixed any interest my kids might have had. That said-the in-situ fossils were impressive and Im glad we saw them in their original location. However, had it not been for the sense-of-adventure-off-road trek to the park AND the interesting abandoned mining town of Berlin (which my kids really liked) it would not have been worth the 2 hour detour. If you go, be sure to call ahead to make sure the fossil site is open, allow time to wander around the old town AND -if possible-take the mine tour which is only offered Fri/Sat/Sun (which we missed). Definitely go for the whole tamale, not just the beans.

I was driving around in Nevada, checking out different state parks, etc. This one was nice on a weekday, in October. The place was mainly empty so the quiet high desert was a break from having come from Vegas. Cool little old ghost town, and fossil stuff that I was not able to see since I was there on a day with no tours. If you want to see the fossil stuff, check ahead of time to make sure you are there when they are doing the tour. Overall, I must say Nevada has a good state park system.

We arrived here in the late afternoon, spent the night camping, and then the morning exploring the park. The park is a good hour+ drive from the US-95 turnoff, although not difficult to find. The campground is in great condition (pit toilets, potable water, trash cans, fire rings, and covered picnic tables). I'm not sure if its always so empty, but the campground was less than half full the night we spent in late June.The Ichthyosaur exhibit is nice, although was somewhat of a disappointment (through no fault of the park). We were expecting a complete Ichthyosaur skeleton on display (museum style), but instead found the fossils still mostly buried in dirt. The interpretive signs were quite helpful, pointing out what we were looking at. To be honest, had it not been for the sign, we never would have known that there was anything more than rocks & dirt before us.The ghost town was far more interesting, as there are a number of well preserved buildings, great signs, plus a few hiking trails. Unfortunately, we were there a few hours before the guided tours, and didn't want to sit around waiting. Without the you can see everything in 60-90 minutes. With the tours, you'd likely need to double the time allocated.

The fossilized bones of at least 9 huge ichthyosaurs are laid and piled on a hillside in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Don't miss the guided tour for great information about how these creatures ended up here.

I appreciate that the state of Nevada maintains this really isolated park. The old ghost town of Berlin is kept in a state of "arrested decay" and a good booklet about the town and the buildings is available. The Ichthyosaur fossils are fascinating. This place is a great back road adventure. Remember to bring water and food and a full gas tank. It is a long way to any services. And there is a nice campground if you like camping. While the roads leading to this park are gravel, they are well maintained and almost any car should be able to handle them, at least in good weather.

Others have mentioned the fossil tour (2x/day) and the ghost town of Berlin.But as of this date (June 2013) the Diana Mine tour is going again Fri to Sun. Well worth it, and rather intimidating. Not work you'd like to do.The rangers at the park are the bomb. Super helpful, friendly, and if things are quiet (and they usually are) willing to share all kinds of info and show you stuff.And don't overlook the campground. $17/night which includes the park fee; checks and cash only. Each site is very large; even RVs over 30' can get in if careful. There's a dump station, and all the sites have ramadas for shade. Pit toilets. A hiking trail leads to the ichthyosaur.Even though the park is small, the area all around it abounds in dirt road adventuring. Some roads are like superhighways (like up to the semi-ghost town of Ione or to the real ghost town of Grantsville; some require 4x4 or high clearance (Union Canyon) depending on conditions. Be forewarned, however: this area is VERY remote. You'll not see many folks driving around, although there is a small Indian community over the hill in Reese Valley, and a few folks in Ione. Gabbs has a small grocery, and they'll open the gas station for you if you inquire at the store. The dirt road up to Berlin is fine, if a bit steep, but it could get messy in snow. The campground makes a fine base of operations for exploring these interesting areas, everything from aspen clad wilderness over the hill near Arc Dome to pronghorn in the valleys. But you gotta like real sagey pinyony type high desert to appreciate it; Palm Springs it isn't. And there are even some interesting dirt roads to get to the park off old 50/NV 722 over Buffalo Pass.

Fantastic display of an actual archeological excavation of Ichthyosaur fossils. These giant reptiles lived hundreds of millions of years ago. You can see fossilized remains of 9 animals, all partially excavated. See other reviews for details. The ghost town of Berlin is also interesting.BUT, BEFORE VISITING, check out the guided tour times. Unless you visit the fossils as part of a guided tour, you can't get into the building to see them. We barely caught the end of a tour .... and special thanks to the park ranger Robin, for taking extra time to give us our own short private tour immediately after the regularly scheduled tour. Our tours cost $6 each. Well worth the money.

Wow, the icthyosaur dig is better than fantastic. Bones from several complete or nearly complete icthyosaurs were uncovered, identified, but not removed, and a shelter building was constructed over the dig. You walk around the edge of the dig within reach of the fossilized bones. Robin, the resident state park ranger, has child-like enthusiasm and extensive knowlege of what your'e seeing. Be sure to go when there are weekend tours May-Sep. Otherwise you're looking at the dig through windows. If not visiting when tours are scheduled, I'd try calling the park to see when he's available. We drove in on a March weekday, but he happened to be there and gave us a 40 minute personal tour. Yes, the Berlin ghost town site is interesting, too, but the dig is amazing.

Berlin is an arrested-decay site, an early 20th Century boom town, worth a quick look at least. Then, 2 miles farther into the canyon, you arrive at the ichthyosaur site. A large creature discovered and first described by Simeon Muller, who was a Stanford geology professor of mine.So nostalgia aside, it is impressive, and the long drive on rough roads is worth the effort.

This ghost town and fish fossil site is so worth a visit. The area is quite remote but all the better for that. The old mine buildings are very evocative, it must have been a hard life for the people living and working here. There are a lot of abandoned mines in Nevada, and working ones. Coming from Cornwall I feel quite at home. The Ichthyosaur centre was closed on the day we came but we could get a fair idea of the fossils through the centre windows. The roads in and out are fine, even the dirt ones. I don't know how much visitation this gets, we were alone in the park apart from a ranger, but it is a really interesting experience in a unique place. As an aside US50 is not marked as scenic on the AAA maps, it should be and is a much better drive than Nevada 376 and 306 which are marked as scenic.