ROADTRIP REVIEW: On The Road To Goldfield, NV

By JASON ANDRUS

The Progress

More than 40 old junk cars emerge out of the ground and appear in other formations at the International Car Forest of the Last Church just outside of Goldfield, Nevada. PHOTO BY JASON ANDRUS/The Progress

Intent on beating the heat in the valley, my friend and I packed up the car and took a road trip north. We headed to Tonopah on via route 95 to get to a bit higher elevations. The journey took us through Beatty and Goldfield where would checked out the International Car Forest of the Last Church.

This open air art gallery is found alongside the old tailing piles of the “Last Great Gold Camp” of Goldfield.
It features one rusted out, perfectly teetering and partially buried junk car after another.

The International Car Forest of the Last Church was created by longtime Goldfield resident Mark Rippie, whose vision was to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest car forest. Joined by artists Chad Sort and Zak Sargent, the three set to work, burying the noses of more than 40 vehicles.

What’s behind the odd name? According to the TravelNevada.com, the International Car Forest of the Last Church, is a combination of two ideas: a national forest that people could openly visit, and a nod to Rippie’s website called the Last Church—which details religious theories that want nothing to do with organized religion.

The old Desert Inn Motel sits abandoned off to the side of the highway near Beatty, Nevada. It is a great place for photographs. PHOTO BY JASON ANDRUS/The Progress

It is a free exhibit. Visitors can explore this one-of-a-kind gallery comprised of over 40 cars, each a masterpiece of its own.
This exhibit struck me as an ever-evolving piece of abstract art that must be seen in person to truly appreciate.

Some of the cars appear to be forcefully driven into the ground. Others are carefully balanced atop one another as though they could topple over at any minute.

The drive up 95, as a whole, offers an abundance of breathtaking desert landscapes, as well as a couple quaint small towns.

There are enough photo ops to extend the drive time from 4.5 hours to closer to 6, and it was worth it.
We stopped off in Beatty right on route 95 to photograph a couple of scenic and abandoned businesses including this one of the Desert Inn Motel.