Please remember to exercise caution when exploring Nevada's Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Open shafts, drifts going into mountainsides, and old buildings, are all DANGEROUS. Be aware of your surroundings, and let someone know where you are, especially if your plans change.

Hay Ranch

DIRECTIONS: From Palisade, head south, then east on poor dirt road. Exit south on to Nevada 278 and follow for 15 miles to Hay Ranch.

"Hay Ranch has served many purposes during its long history. First it operated as a stage station during the 1860s, while growing 1,000 tons of hay each year. The hay fed teams from as far away as Pioche. When Eureka began to boom, Hay Ranch became an important food stop for stages and freight teams heading south. A boardinghouse, a restaurant, and a livery stable thrived during the late 1860s and 1870s. On March 29, 1872, a Palisade-Eureka stage was robbed near here, providing Hay Ranch with a bit of history that is rare in Eureka County.

Hay Ranch achieved even more importance once the Eureka and Palisade Railroad was completed. During the construction of the line, railroad executives purchased 2,500 acres of nearby bottomland. This area was fenced in, and more than 300 mules were used to harvest the hay in the fall. Once the railroad was completed to Eureka in 1875, Hay Ranch's population stabilized at about 25 people. This figure has remained fairly constant through today, and the ranch is still active. Only a couple of vintage buildings remain. One of them, obviously moved from the old railroad bed, appears to have been the Hay Ranch station house."

 

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