Tucked up north in Elko County, just below the Idaho border is the small town of Jarbidge.

And when I say small, I mean it.

There are less than 20 year-round residents here.

Jarbidge is known for hunting, fishing, and solitude.

But there's so much more to this charming little town than that.

So come on.

Let's go check it out.

♪♪♪ -I'm Connor Fields, your new host for my favorite show, Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪ -Jarbidge, Nevada, boasts a remote location, as it is situated in the northeastern corner of the state, surrounded by vast wilderness and mountainous terrain.

It is one of the most isolated towns in the lower 48.

Accessible primarily through winding mountain roads, the remoteness adds to its allure for those seeking a tranquil escape.

Despite the seclusion, Jarbidge's scenic beauty attracts nature enthusiasts and adventurers.

Just making your way into Jarbidge is an adventure.

There are two ways in and out.

One is from Idaho, and the second is from Elko.

Both ways are stunning.

When you do arrive in Jarbidge, it's surreal.

There's a main road with a couple of gas pumps, a general store, community hall, bar/restaurant/motel, fire department, post office, gift shop, homes, and an artist's studio.

Danny is the artist, and this is his glass studio.

Danny was a frequent visitor to Jarbidge as a kid.

He would visit with his family to hike, fish, and camp.

When the opportunity presented itself, Danny moved his studio from Elko to Jarbidge.

Danny is well versed in the town's history, so I figured it would be a good idea to stop in to talk with him and get his take on Jarbidge.

(Danny Sullivan) The town itself has been here since about 1910, and it started as a mining town.

And ironically, a lot of people don't know how to say Jarbidge.

They say jar bridge.

So it's kind of a funny story on how Jarbidge was actually created.

It started out the canyon didn't have a name, but the Indians were afraid of this canyon because of Tsawhawbitts.

And Tsawhawbitts is supposedly a cannibal giant that lives in the canyon that would kidnap warriors and eat them.

So for years and years, they were afraid of coming into the canyon.

So when they discovered gold here, they moved into the canyon, the miners did, and they could not say Tsawhawbitts, so they originally started saying Jahabich.

And then from Jahabich, it kind of morphed to Jarbidge.

-Interesting.

I'm just double checking.

You have not found that cannibal creature?

-No.

-Okay.

-I have not seen him.

-Okay.

So we're safe?

-Yeah, we're pretty safe.

[laughter] -Oh, that's a really crazy background, crazy story.

Do you want to show me what you do?

-Sure, I can show you.

I think we'll make a flower.

-All right.

Watching Danny create a flower out of colored glass rods was neat.

He walked me through each step of the process.

I have to say this is not what I expected to see in one of the most remote towns in the lower 48.

It was pretty cool, nonetheless.

-I enjoy doing the flowers.

There's something to me that's calming about just sitting here and, you know, especially in the winter when it's snowing outside.

I can sit here, I can look out the windows of the shop, and I can put the music on and I can just sit here and plug away at flowers.

-Now, if you're looking for peace and quiet to work on your craft, Jarbidge is the place.

He carefully manipulated the glass, turning it, pressing it into petals and leaves.

And before you knew it, a flower.

-Danny, that was so cool.

I appreciate you showing me that.

Now that I have you, and you've lived here for a while, I feel like you're a good person to ask: What else should we see while we're in Jarbidge?

-I'd love to take you next door and show you the house next door.

It was built in 1910.

It was the assay office for Elkoro Mines at one point in time; it was the post office for a number of years; as well as a public bar in the '40s, '50s, and '60s.

Now it's a private residence.

It's just next door, so I'd love to show it to you.

-Let's see it.

I am quickly learning that the people of Jarbidge are very proud of the town's history.

Danny and his partner have taken it to the next level.

So we walked right next door for a closer look.

Oh, wow!

I feel like I just stepped back in time.

-This was a public bar in the '40s, '50s, and '60s.

It was called Bob's Place, and they used to have a jukebox in here.

They danced in here.

If you look at a lot of the old pictures, there are pictures down at the Community Hall of some of the history.

You'll see where this place was the hoppin' place to be back in the '40s and '50s.

This also, like I said, was the assay office for Elkoro Mines.

And so we have-- the original safe is still over there.

Of course, it doesn't hold gold anymore, but we use it kind of as a pantry.

But it actually had gold, and there's a photo on this table over here that shows gold bars stacked up in front of this safe.

I don't know when that photo was taken, but it was a while ago.

This also was the post office for I think around 1920 and for a number of years, before the post office was moved to another location.

There's a lot of little treasures in town like this that still have history tied to them from back in the mining days, but most of them are now people's residences.

But they've tried to maintain the history and keep up on the history.

-Thank you for showing me this.

This place is absolutely stunning.

Like I said, I feel like I just walked back in time.

-And if you get a chance to go down to some of the other locations in town like the Hall or even to, say, the motel or the Red Dog Saloon, which was in business back then, do that.

Also, one of the things that draws a lot of people into Jarbidge is this is a great location to go snowmobiling in the winter.

We have people that come in and just cross country ski up the road.

The road is closed on the south end of town once the snow flies, and it isn't maintained or opened back up until usually around the Fourth of July.

We get drifts up on top that keep the road closed until then, and then the county comes in and opens it up.

So that way, you have two points of entry.

The north end of town stays open year round.

They keep that maintained and plowed.

So while it's a little bit of a drive to get to civilization, you can still get out if you have medical needs or you need supplies.

-Thank you for showing me this.

I'm gonna go check out some of those other places you mentioned.

A town of this population, I'm sure there's a good chance I'll run into you again.

-Well, thank you, and it's been a pleasure.

And good luck to you.

-All right.

♪♪♪ [shutter sound] -In 1908, Congress established the Humboldt National Forest with a ranger station here.

That same year, gold was discovered, and 1,500 miners moved in.

The miners mainly lived in tents.

It was in 1911 when then President William Taft excluded Jarbidge from the Humboldt National Forest.

This allowed for private ownership of land.

A lively business district sprung up, including several multistory buildings and an eatery built of bottles.

Jarbidge was on the rise.

Another interesting fact about Jarbidge: The last stagecoach robbery in the United States happened here in 1916.

It was a wild time.

But then in 1919, a fire destroyed many of the buildings, and the mines began to yield less.

The population of Jarbidge dwindled.

From then on, the population of Jarbidge rarely exceeded 200.

The mines closed in the 1930s, and the population continued to shrink.

Yet despite facing economic challenges, the town continued on.

It has preserved its historic charm and is now a gateway into the Jarbidge wilderness, attracting visitors interested in its past and natural beauty.

♪♪♪ As I made my way around town, I continued to meet the locals.

And each and every time, I was asked if I had talked with Bud or Virgil.

Bud is Jarbidge's oldest living resident, at over 90.

And Virgil was born and raised in Jarbidge.

We found Bud at the local watering hole.

What would you say is the best thing about Jarbidge?

-The most?

-The best thing about town.

(Bud Webber) The best thing about it is it's a place where you can do what you want as long as it's legal, and nobody bothers you.

-What type of person does it take to live here in Jarbidge?

-Well, it takes somebody that wants to get away from civilization, to begin with.

Men like it a lot better than women.

Most women hate the place.

Men seem to take a shine to it because there's no authority here, really.

And they kind of get to lay back and live like they want to live.

The people that really want to be around a lot of, I'd say, civilization, along with department stores and things like that, don't belong here, and they don't come here.

They might come in and drive through town and turn around and leave again, but they certainly wouldn't live here.

-And what is your favorite thing to do in Jarbidge?

-My favorite thing to do now is almost nothing.

[laughter] -There's a lot of things that I like to do and can't do anymore.

-What were they?

-I used to be a mountaineer, a spelunker, and a white water nut.

-If someone was going to come to town for one day, what should they see?

-For one day?

-If you're here for one day, what should you see?

-Depends on the time of the year.

In the fall, you should see the leaves.

In the summertime, that's when you can really look around.

If you like some mountains, that's the time to be up there.

♪♪♪ -Next, I caught up with Virgil.

Virgil was born and raised in Jarbidge.

We decided to meet up in the Community Hall.

The Hall is one of the original structures in town.

It serves as the town's meet-up spot.

The Hall has been refurbished a few times since the early 1900s.

It's part of the fabric of Jarbidge.

It holds a lot of memories for Virgil.

What was it like growing up in Jarbidge?

(Virgil Larios) Well, we never had nothing to do except run the canyon... [laughter] and climbing those rocks behind you.

I don't know how we didn't get killed.

[laughter] But, you know, we fished all the time.

There was no real activities for kids other than you ate breakfast, and your folks didn't see you till dark.

And you just, you had clean clothes and a full belly, and you probably had the greatest life of all.

I mean, you went fishing pretty near every day.

And even in the winter we fished.

We'd even swim in the river in the winter.

-I'll bet that was cold.

-Well, I'm sure it was.

You wouldn't catch me doing it today, let alone in the winter.

-What's your favorite thing about Jarbidge?

-Jarbidge is home.

I don't know any other way to say it, but Jarbidge is just home to me.

-If someone was thinking about coming up to Jarbidge, why should they come and visit it and see it?

-Well, I think this is beautiful country around here, I figure.

-It seems like everybody here is so proud of the history of Jarbidge.

I mean, even on the walls in here, there's a lot of historical stuff.

Why do you think people are so proud of Jarbidge?

-Jarbidge, I think, is such a unique place because it's not too much different than it was, as I remember it, in the mid- '40s.

There's two people that live in Jarbidge: There's the people that love it and the people that one trip to Jarbidge is enough for them.

-But that's part of the-- the beautiful thing of Jarbidge is when you're here, it's isolated.

It's quiet.

-Right.

-It's just you can see all the stars.

You know, there's no noise pollution.

It's really beautiful.

You feel like you're at one with the earth here.

-Well, when you say you can see all the stars, you can only see that many.

-That's true.

We are in a canyon.

[laughter] -Yeah, you don't go see the broad picture of it.

So it's our whole world was right there.

-Right.

-When I was a kid when a plane flew over, because there just wasn't that many that flew over, everybody in town came out.

-If you could describe Jarbidge in one word, what would it be?

-Me, I go back to the same word.

Home.

-Spending time with Bud and Virgil was great and really interesting.

There's something to sitting down with our elders to hear stories of a time past.

It is an honor, and we should do it more, especially in a place like Jarbidge.

There's another local I was excited to meet up with.

His name is Jase.

The best way to describe him?

He's Jarbidge's caretaker.

He's the handyman, cook, outdoorsman, and Jarbidge's historian.

He makes sure everyone is good and everything is running smoothly in town.

He loves this area and loves to share it with visitors.

Jase is the do-it-all guy here in Jarbidge.

This is one of the first things I saw when I drove in.

You'll have to tell me more about this place.

(Jase Stegall) This is the Jarbidge Jail.

This is where they held the culprits that did the last horsedrawn stage robbery in the United States.

It was actually a buckboard freight wagon.

It wasn't a stagecoach like you see in the movies.

But that's how the mail came in, that's how the payroll came in, and all the supplies would come into the canyon.

-So there was money that was on there?

-The payroll for the Elkoro Mining Company.

-They get it?

Clearly, if they were here, they weren't successful.

-Well, they were successful.

They actually murdered the driver.

That's what made it so famous.

It was the first time in history to use a perfect bloody palm print to convict a man.

So you're standing on ground zero for forensic science.

-Here in Jarbidge, Nevada.

-Yes, sir.

-That's amazing.

So is that the last time that it was used?

-No.

It was last used in the mid- to early '40s.

After that, then the town kind of died and things quieted down.

But it's always been Elko County property, and it's kind of a historical site now.

-They don't put you in there when you start acting a fool?

-No.

I was always a good kid for the most part.

But the cells, they're still in there.

They're still intact.

It's all concrete with big steel wrought iron.

I wish we could get you in there.

It'd be pretty interesting to see.

Maybe the next trip you come, we can show you.

-Hopefully, it's by choice and not because I had to get thrown in there.

-For sure.

For sure.

-One thing I did take notice to as I walked around Jarbidge was the amount of remnants around town.

It's like an outdoor museum to a time past and a reminder of the foundation for the town and its residents.

It really is cool to see.

I asked Jase about it, and he was happy to walk me through some of the pieces on the jail's wall.

What are all these old artifacts here?

-There's a hodgepodge.

Most people call it scrap iron, but these are treasures.

This is an old bit that's been, obviously, left to rot someplace.

It's a mouthpiece for a horse.

There'd be a leather headstall that would go up over the ears, and the reigns would attach here.

-Oh, wow!

-Obviously, somebody broke-- -How old is this?

-Oh, this has got to be at least 90 to 100 years old, looking by the rust and the way it's built and...

There's little odds and ends.

These are sheep shearers here.

This is how the old Basque folks used to shear sheep.

-Oh, yeah?

Was there a large Basque population in Jarbidge?

-There used to be.

This was sheep country before it was mining country?

-Wow!

I had no idea.

For as small of a town as Jarbidge is, there is no shortage of things to see.

And with that, Jase had another place to show me.

And it was just a bit outside of town, the local cemetery.

So we drove a little bit out of town, went off the road a little bit, but we made it.

We're at the Jarbidge Cemetery.

-This is it.

This here that we're standing in front of is the original cemetery.

This is where all the old-timers from the original Big Gold Rush were buried.

Just to the north of us is a new cemetery where all the more recent folks have been buried.

I don't believe anybody has been buried in here since late '40s.

I don't know the exact date.

And a lot of this stuff here, we were looking at the antiques on the jail, this has all been repurposed.

These pieces on the gate here were the bands that held together our redwood watertank.

-These pieces here?

-Yep.

That was water tank for the town water supply before it got taken down.

We were forced on a more modern water system.

And this arch here come out of the Pavlok Mill.

That was one of their tanks that was up there.

They were just sitting up there in a state of disrepair and it's falling apart, so they decided this would be a good place to repurpose the metal and keep some history alive so people can know what it's about.

-Before we go into the cemetery, now that we've gotten a little bit elevated--we've been down in the canyon in the valley all day--now that I'm up here, I can see a bit more.

It is absolutely stunning.

You have all the colors of the trees, some snow on top of the mountain over here.

I've never seen anything like this.

-Well, we're at the base of Jarbidge mountain.

This is the one you see with the snow.

There are seven peaks behind here.

All of them are over 10,000 feet.

And the reason this area is so geographically unique is the geologists have been working up here over the years.

They say that this was over the Yellowstone hotspot X amount of years ago, and that's what created-- this is all volcanic.

And that's why it's right here and nowhere else, because it's one of those things that only happens so often.

And this is a pretty spectacular piece of Nevada.

If I didn't tell you you're in Nevada, you'd never guess.

-It makes me even more proud to be from Nevada.

This is absolutely stunning.

Should we check out the cemetery?

-Sure thing.

-All right.

Before we go in there, I want to check.

Is it haunted?

-Some people believe in ghosts.

I'm not one of them, but we have a lot of people come up here looking for them.

[laughter] ♪♪♪ -I have to put a quick pause in this moment.

When we were out and about on the road filming Outdoor Nevada, spotting wildlife is hit and miss.

Well, at this moment, one of the guys spotted something special.

A moose.

Yep, a moose.

You want to see some camera guys run to get a shot?

Say moose.

Moose are new to Nevada.

The current count is between 12 and 16 in total.

The folks in Jarbidge say that there are at least six that they have seen.

And today we were lucky enough to see one.

And it was pretty special.

Okay, back to Jase.

We're standing here in this gorgeous location.

This backdrop looks like we're in a movie.

I'm just thinking you probably meet people from all over the world that come up here.

What do they come up here to do?

-Well, there's something to do year round.

We have people come literally from all over the world to do the Backcountry Discovery Route.

We're the end of Nevada, the beginning of Idaho.

In the springtime, you have all the flowers.

There's snow-capped peaks just as they are now, but it's more prominent in the north-faced rifts.

During the summer you have mountain biking, fishing, you have ATV riding, jeeping.

We've got hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads to explore.

In the fall, you have the amazing fall colors, as you're witnessing right now.

And in the wintertime, we have snowmobiling, cross country skiing, snowshoeing.

This is double black diamond country on a snowmobile, but it's amazing.

-You got to be ready for it?

-For sure.

You have to plan on shoveling, because you're gonna get stuck.

-Well, I cannot thank you enough for showing me around town, giving me a bit of the history.

I've never been to a place more unique than this.

Thank you so much.

-You're very welcome.

Thanks for coming enjoying our country, and we'll look forward to seeing you again one of these days.

♪♪♪ My last day here, I decided to just take it all in.

I did some fishing... took a hike out into the wilderness... walked around town...

I took it all in, as much as I could, to appreciate it all.

Now that I've spent some time here, next time I know what to expect.

♪♪♪ -I can't wait to come back to Jarbidge.

I have never been to a place like this.

I want everyone to come here and experience Jarbidge.

I really do.

It is absolutely amazing.

♪♪♪ But it is not for everyone.

Jarbidge is a true mountain town.

There is no corner store, and there is no cell service.

What there is, is real living, living surrounded by nature and all of its splendor and challenges.

♪♪♪ Spending time in Jarbidge is a true look at yourself for all the best reasons.

It is a perfect place to feel small and forget the world for a little bit.

It is invigorating, a true reset.

If you do decide to make the trip, plan it out.

Do your research.

Check the weather.

Make sure the roads are open and you're driving a capable vehicle.

You will not be on many maintained roads.

There are rooms available, but not many.

There are plenty of campsites, most of them on a first-come, first-serve basis.

And finally, come with an open mind and ready to experience a different kind of life.

♪♪♪ Jarbidge was truly one of the most interesting places that I have ever been.

It really was like stepping into a time capsule and getting a glimpse into what the Old West was like.

But the people, the people were so kind and welcoming and happy to share about their little town.

And there's nothing quite like being around so much untouched nature.

I'll see you next time on Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪