Nipton sat neglected for years until Las Vegas’s Spiegelworld turned it into a circus haven

From 10 miles out, the tiny town of Nipton suddenly appears in the middle distance like a mirage: a huddle of lush eucalyptus trees in an otherwise impossibly vast, barren expanse of the California desert.

From closer up, the place still feels dream-like. Old west-style buildings, including the Nipton Trading Post and a five-bed hotel built in the early 1900s, dot the community but are shuttered to the public. Other than the freight trains that regularly slice through the edge of town, Nipton is often completely silent. The unincorporated area is home to only about a dozen people, depending on the season, and spans just 80 acres. (“Blink and you’ll miss it,” one of the town’s caretakers says.)