When you get out of town in Nevada, you really get out of town. Jewel and I did just that on our recent weekender to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park out near Gabbs. We're talking near the middle of the state, where mountains and wildlife pretty much have the place to themselves. Outside of a few widely dispersed little bergs like Gabbs and some modern mining, this swath of Nevada outback is rather devoid of human activity.

When I told a friend where we had been, he brought up the "Nevada's best kept secret" cliche; in this case I agree. The park is 80 miles from Fallon and 20 miles off a secondary highway, 6800 feet elevation in the Shoshone Mountains. It's quiet, the campground is outstanding (and cheap), the Milky Way is a bright streak across the night sky, and you get two cool things to do in one visit.

The Berlin part is a classic Nevada ghost town, only the remains of this one are actively preserved by the park. You get to wander among the remaining buildings and ruins, read the excellent interpretive signs, and let your imagination fill in the blanks. Just over a century ago, a few hundred people made this place home until the mines played out and they headed to the next boomtown, or retired to a real town. I find this stuff thoroughly fascinating and would visit this time if I had one of those way-back machines.

The ichthyosaur part refers to the amazing fossil reptiles in residence here. Until a recent find in Canada, Nevada's ichthyosaurs were the largest known specimens of this carnivorous, amphibious reptile in the world. Swimming in ancient seas while dinosaurs stalked the dry ground, these guys were over fifty feet long and serious eating machines. The fossil house protects an actual excavation; tours are available so you can get the scoop on how paleontologists go about their business. This stuff is fascinating, too.