Rhyolite had been abandoned slowly in the 1910s after the once-profitable gold mines at nearby Bullfrog played out. The townsite is a major tourist attraction advertised throughout the Death Valley region, and a number of the former streets are maintained as access roads. The jail proved to be indestructible and looks similar to its condition in 1908 (minus some doors). The hulks of the mercantile and bank buildings remain and were undergoing stabilization in 1986. Only the low crib walls of the former brothel remain at lower center. Most of the vegetation is Atriplex polycarpa (cattle spinach) or A. canescens (four-wing saltbush), and scattered clumps of Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) are present in the view. (Raymond M. Turner)