International Car Forest of the Last Church
Crystal Ave
Goldfield, NV
Dozens of junk cars planted nose-down in the high desert and painted top to bottom, the largest car forest in the country.
The International Car Forest of the Last Church is exactly what its strange name promises: a field on the edge of Goldfield where more than forty cars, trucks, vans, and buses have been buried nose-down or balanced and stacked on end, then painted from bumper to bumper in bright, sprawling murals and graffiti. It is billed as the largest car forest in the country, and standing among the tilted hulks feels like wandering a surreal desert cathedral.
The project grew out of one man's odd ambition and another artist's eye for the absurd. It is raw, unfenced, and free, and it has become one of central Nevada's most photographed roadside stops, a magnet for travelers on the lonely stretch of US Route 95 between Las Vegas and Reno.
What Guests Love
- Wandering among the towering planted and stacked cars in total quiet
- The ever-changing graffiti and murals covering every surface
- How photogenic it is at sunrise and sunset, and under the dark night sky
- That it is free, open, and refreshingly unpolished
Worth Knowing
- It sits on rough dirt roads, so drive slowly and watch for soft spots after rain
- The art is fragile and often re-tagged; treat the site and its makers with respect
- There are no services, shade, or water on site, so come prepared for the desert
- It is a folk-art work in progress, so what you see keeps changing over time
Details
Goldfield, NV
Learn about International Car Forest of the Last Church
How the forest grew
Longtime Goldfield resident Mark Rippie planted the first car on his land in 2002, with the stated goal of breaking the record for the world's biggest car forest. For years it grew slowly, one salvaged vehicle at a time, hauled out and set into the desert ground or hoisted onto the cars already there.
Around 2011 the artist Chad Sorg, who had spotted a car standing on its nose while driving through town, moved to Goldfield to help expand the installation. Sorg is credited with the wry name: calling it an International Forest was his spoof on the idea of a national forest, a nod to the visitors who now come from all over the world. Rippie described the Last Church as the church that lives inside each person. The two eventually parted ways, but the forest they built together kept drawing painters, taggers, and travelers who add their own layers.
What you will see
The cars are the canvas. Nearly every surface has been painted, repainted, and tagged, so the murals range from careful artwork to scrawled names, and they shift constantly as new visitors leave their mark. Some vehicles stand alone like desert monoliths; others are stacked two and three high, leaning at impossible angles against the wide Nevada sky.
There is no set path and no staff. You simply park at the edge, walk in, and let the strangeness of it work on you. Photographers love the low light of early morning and evening, when the painted metal glows and long shadows stretch across the dust, and on a clear night the site sits under a spectacular blanket of stars.
Goldfield, the town around it
Goldfield was once the largest city in Nevada, a boomtown that exploded around a rich gold strike in the early 1900s and just as quickly faded. What remains is a haunting mix of grand old buildings, the historic Goldfield Hotel, weathered ruins, and a small population that keeps the place alive. The town has become a hub for offbeat desert art and eccentric roadside attractions, of which the Car Forest is the best known.
The surrounding high desert is stark and empty, the kind of country where the horizon runs unbroken for miles. It is hot and dry in summer and can be cold and windy in winter, so the mild shoulder seasons of spring and fall are the most comfortable times to explore.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Stardust Lodge
Honorable Mention4061 Lake Tahoe Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe, CA
152 miles away|Learn More ›
Things to Do Near Goldfield
Goldfield Historic District
About 1 mile
A faded boomtown of grand early-1900s buildings, the reputedly haunted Goldfield Hotel, and quirky desert-art stops.
Tonopah
About 25 miles north
A former silver-mining town known for its historic mining park, the Clown Motel, and some of the darkest night skies in the country.
Goldwell Open Air Museum
About 60 miles south
A sculpture park near the Rhyolite ghost town, home to a ghostly plaster Last Supper and other large desert artworks.