Abandoned Towns
Jarbidge's dirt main street with the Red Dog Saloon and wooden buildings below the canyon wall

Gold mining town

Jarbidge

A 1909 gold camp at the bottom of a mountain canyon, nearly 20 miles from the nearest pavement. Travel Nevada puts the year-round population at 19, and the roads from Elko are often snowed shut from fall to early summer.

41°52′28″N 115°25′55″W · ≈6,290 ft

Photo: Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Seasonal access

Jarbidge is a living community with limited services. No paved road comes within about 20 miles. The county roads from Elko get no winter maintenance and are often closed from October or November to June or July. Three Creek Road from Idaho is usually open all year, but its last 18 miles are unimproved. Check conditions with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest before you go.

Overview

The last gold rush, at the end of the road

The Jarbidge River canyon from the slopes of Jarbidge Peak
The Jarbidge River canyon from the slopes of Jarbidge Peak · Photo: Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Jarbidge sits at the bottom of the Jarbidge River canyon near the north end of the Jarbidge Mountains, about 10 miles south of the Idaho border. Gold was found here in 1909, in one of the last gold rushes of the American frontier, and by 1911 nearly 2,000 people had crowded into the canyon. The name comes from a Shoshone word meaning "devil"; the story goes that the Shoshone thought the hills were haunted.

On December 5, 1916, Ben Kuhl shot the mail-wagon driver Fred Searcy and took about $4,000, which was never found. The crime is remembered as the last stagecoach robbery in the United States. A bloody palm print on a letter helped convict Kuhl, the first time palm prints were used as evidence in an American courtroom. He was paroled in 1945.

Mine equipment went to the war effort during World War I, and mining ended in 1932. The town never quite emptied. It's a base for hunters, campers and anglers near the Jarbidge Wilderness, and it keeps its old jail and a community hall that works as an unofficial museum.

Timeline

Rush, robbery and the long quiet

The Jarbidge jail and trading post
The Jarbidge jail and trading post · Photo: Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  1. Gold is found in the Jarbidge River canyon, one of the last gold rushes of the American frontier.
  2. The population swells to nearly 2,000. A presidential proclamation takes the townsite out of the national forest, and the town's jail is built after it.
  3. Ben Kuhl kills mail-wagon driver Fred Searcy and takes about $4,000, in what Wikipedia calls the last stagecoach robbery in the United States.
  4. Kuhl's trial opens. A bloody palm print on a letter from the mail pouch is the first palm print used as evidence in a US courtroom. His death sentence is later commuted to life.
  5. Much of the mining equipment is cannibalized for the war effort.
  6. Mining stops altogether.
  7. Permits to remove gold are issued again.

What's left

What you'll see

The Jarbidge Community Hall
The Jarbidge Community Hall · Photo: Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
State historical marker No. 153 for the Jarbidge Commercial Hall
State historical marker No. 153 for the Jarbidge Commercial Hall · Photo: Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The town strings along one road at the canyon bottom. Most buildings are occupied homes, old and new, and an undated listing notes a few old ruins if you look closely. The small jail, built after 1911, once held Ben Kuhl. The community hall carries state historical marker No. 153, which calls it the Jarbidge Commercial Hall, built by citizens after the town reached 1,500 people in 1910. Travel Nevada says it escaped a fire that leveled 22 other businesses and homes. It's now the town's unofficial museum, free with donations welcome, open for events such as Jarbidge Days and the Fourth of July and otherwise by appointment. The Red Dog Saloon and the Outdoor Inn stand on the main street.

The 1943 USGS sheet in the next section shows the town squeezed into the canyon, with mines on the slopes above it.

  • Jail
  • Community hall, the old Commercial Hall (museum)
  • Red Dog Saloon
  • Post office
  • Old ruins
USGS topographic map of Jarbidge in the Jarbidge River canyon
USGS The National Map, topo. The town at the bottom of the canyon, with the road following the river.
Aerial view of Jarbidge's buildings along a forested canyon floor
Aerial imagery, same area. Buildings strung along the river.

Historic maps

Jarbidge on USGS maps, 1943–1986

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Jarbidge, 1943
Jarbidge sheet, 1943, 1:62,500 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Day trip

Plan a day trip to Jarbidge from Twin Falls

Take it with you

Day trip itinerary

The essentials, the sample day with boxes to tick, what to photograph and the coordinates, on two printable pages. Handy where there's no signal.

Download the PDF (654 KB)

Jarbidge is a long day from Twin Falls and a better overnight. Summer and fall are the best months. The town has a saloon, an inn with a bar and restaurant, and few other services.

A sample day

  1. Leave Twin Falls on US 93 south, then turn east onto Three Creek Road.
  2. Drop into the canyon on North Fork Charleston Road and arrive in Jarbidge.
  3. See the old jail and the community hall, and read the markers. The hall opens for events or by appointment.
  4. Lunch in town, then start back while there's daylight.

Coming from Elko? The route via Deeth crosses the mountains on county roads that get no winter maintenance. Go only in the snow-free months.

What to photograph and film

  • Main street. Shoot along the road with the canyon walls rising behind, as in the photo at the top of this page.
  • The jail. Small and squat beside the trading post. It once held Ben Kuhl.
  • The canyon. From the slopes toward Jarbidge Peak you can look down the river canyon, as in the photo under the overview.
  • Drones. We found no local rule. Check with the ranger district before flying over national forest land.

Map & directions

Getting there

The usual way in is from Twin Falls, Idaho, on US 93 and Three Creek Road, whose last 18 miles are unimproved. From Elko the routed drive is I-80 to Deeth, then county roads 747 and 748 over the mountains; the Elko-side roads get no winter maintenance. Either way, plan on gravel and slow going.

USGS topographic map between Twin Falls, Idaho and Jarbidge with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Twin Falls, Idaho93.4 miabout 3 h 15 min
  1. Head out on Shoshone Street and Washington Street South, ID 74.2.3 mi
  2. Turn right on Orchard Drive West, which becomes East 3700 North.4.9 mi
  3. Turn left on US 93 and head south.22.2 mi
  4. Turn left on 1520 North, which becomes Three Creek Road.7.7 mi
  5. Follow Three Creek Road. The final 18 miles are unimproved.47.2 mi
  6. Continue on North Fork Charleston Road down into Jarbidge.8.9 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • No paved road comes within about 20 miles of Jarbidge.
  • The Elko-side county roads get no winter maintenance and are often closed from October or November to June or July. Three Creek Road is usually open all year.
  • Roads turn to mud after rain or snowmelt. Carry a spare, water and a paper map.
  • Services are limited and no hours are published. Fill your tank before leaving Twin Falls or Elko.

Photos

Jarbidge in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Jarbidge?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Jarbidge

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Nevada index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Jarbidge": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, remains, post office days, undated), hunting and fishing.
  2. Wikipedia, "Jarbidge, Nevada", retrieved October 2026: location, 1909 rush, name, peak population, World War I and 1932, 2013 permits, the usual route, unimproved miles and winter closures.
  3. Wikipedia, "Ben Kuhl": the 1916 robbery, the palm print, sentence and 1945 parole.
  4. Historical Marker Database, Jarbidge jail marker: the 1911 proclamation, the jail, Kuhl as its best-known prisoner.
  5. Travel Nevada, "Jarbidge Community Hall" (undated), read October 2026: the hall as unofficial museum, the fire it escaped, free entry with donations, opening for events or by appointment, 19 year-round residents.
  6. Jarbidge Community Association, "Local Businesses", October 2026: inn, saloon, trading post, motel, RV park and gas station.
  7. State historical marker No. 153, Jarbidge Commercial Hall (photo on this page): the hall's origin and the 1910 population.
  8. USDA Forest Service, Pine Creek Campground (updated July 2025): sites, no fee, June to October season, location, ranger district office and phone.
  9. Coordinates: Wikipedia (from USGS GNIS). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits