Gerlach is a tiny desert town at the edge of the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, home to fewer than 200 people for most of the year. For one week each August it becomes the gateway to Burning Man, when tens of thousands arrive to build a temporary city on the ancient lake bed — but for the other 51 weeks, Gerlach is as remote and unhurried as Nevada gets.
The town was established by the Western Pacific Railroad in 1905 as a service stop at the foot of the playa. The Black Rock Desert itself has a much older history: it was a major route for emigrants heading to Oregon and California, and names carved into the basalt walls of High Rock Canyon to the north survive from those wagon-train years. The triangular spire of Black Rock Mountain, rising at the northern edge of the playa, was the landmark those pioneers navigated by, visible for miles across the flat.
Today the main draws are the playa itself — a 100-square-mile alkali flat that turns mirror-flat after rain and bakes to a cracked white surface in summer — and the geothermal hot springs that ring the edge of town. The playa's extraordinary flatness has made it a favourite for land-speed record attempts; the world record was set here in 1997 when the jet-powered Thrust SSC broke the sound barrier at 763 mph. Bruno's Country Club on Main Street is the social centre of town and the best reason to stop for dinner even if you're just passing through.