Pioche is a former silver mining town in eastern Nevada, high enough above the desert to be cooler than Las Vegas and remote enough to feel like the edge of the map. It was one of the roughest mining camps in the Old West, with a local legend that dozens of men died violently before the town recorded its first natural death.
The town's appeal is concentrated along and above Main Street: the Million Dollar Courthouse, Boot Hill Cemetery, old theatre buildings, the Lincoln County Museum, and views over a dry basin of sage and rock. It is not as famous as Virginia City or as polished as a heritage park, but the rough edges suit it.
Pioche makes sense if you are driving US-93 between Las Vegas and Ely, especially if you like mining history, empty highways, and small towns that still look partly abandoned. Nearby Echo Canyon and Spring Valley state parks add water, camping, and canyon scenery to a stop that would otherwise be mostly historic.