“Tour the Historic Ovens!”
During the 19th century, settlers from all over would pass through Cave Valley trying to find their fortunes. Turns out, they were in luck. In 1872 silver was discovered at the town of Toano, which was on the railroad line, making it an easy location to build up a mining settlement. Miners from Pioche, Nevada came to the town and the Ward Minig District was established. Then in 1875, the Martin & White Company poured money into mining operations to extract silver ore, and in the process built up smelters, which were furnaces used to melt the silver ores. The ovens towered at 30-feet high and 27-feet in diameter at their base. The shape resembled a parabolic beehive, which was intended to "reflect heat back into the center of the oven" and reduce heat loss. To help with this the walls were built 20-inches thick, with three rows of ventilation. After the mining companies left, the ovens were used by stockmen, prospectors and even stagecoach bandits. The State of Nevada purchased the land in the 1960s and the Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park was established in 1969 as a State Monument, and in 1994 was made an official State Park. Today you can camp by the ovens and get some killer nighttime photos. - Roadtrippers Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park is located in the Egan Mountain Range approximately 18 miles south of Ely, Nevada. This beautiful park is mostly known for its six beehive-shaped historic charcoal ovens; however, the park offers an array of recreational opportunities. The basin near Ward Charcoal Ovens was a major stopover for settlers who used Cave Valley road to travel from Pioche, Nevada, to the nearby railroad town of Toano (1870–1876). Silver ore was discovered here in 1872 when freighters were looking for oxen that were grazing in the Willow Creek Basin area. The Ward Mining District, located two miles north of the park, was then developed. Small claim mining continued in this area for several years. In April 1875, the Martin & White Company from San Francisco invested money to extract silver ore, bought up several small claims and built smelters (furnaces for melting ores). The beehive shaped ovens replaced an older system of producing charcoal because the ovens were a more efficient way to reduce pinyon pine and juniper into charcoal. The Ward Charcoal Ovens operated from 1876 through 1879, the silver boom years of the Ward mines. The ovens were eventually phased out completely due to depleted ore deposits and a shortage of available timber. The Ward Charcoal Ovens served diverse purposes after their function as charcoal ovens ended. They sheltered stockmen and prospectors during foul weather and had a reputation as a hideout for stagecoach bandits. The area was privately owned and managed by ranchers until 1956. A special-use permit provided by State of Nevada management opened 160 acres to the public. In 1968, the land became public in a land trade. The next year the Nevada State Legislature created Ward Charcoal Ovens State Monument. The State Park designation was added in 1994, and park facilities continue to be added to the site. Today, the ovens continue to represent a unique and fascinating chapter in Nevada mining history. The Nevada Division of State Parks takes pride in the preservation of this park for future generations to enjoy.
Reviews of Willow Creek Campground at Charcoal Ovens State Park
10 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 5G
Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on July 15, 2019AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on May 21, 2024T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on May 21, 2024Reviews
These massive, mysterious structures are actually old charcoal ovens built by an Italian immigrant. They were once in a now-abandoned town called Ward, and are the best-preserved charcoal ovens you'll likely find anywhere.
Great view from the overlook loop. Not a long hike or to difficult. But for the day after Black Canyon of the Gunnison, it made me remember my legs still hurt.
Campground was almost empty and it was a holiday weekend. Really nice camp sites, with water and covered tables.
Clean campground with picnic tables and shade structures. We stayed in mid April during a trip. We had the campground and ovens to ourselves. No electricity, tank dumping or other services. Within walking distance of the ovens. Nice place to hike and take photos. It is approximately 7 miles, 15 minutes west of Hwy 50 via a good gravel road.
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 2
RV Length: 19 ft
RV Type: Class B
Clean, quiet, practically deserted campground near the charcoal ovens. Only 3 of the 16 campsites were occupied on a Friday night. There are several water faucets throughout the campground. There are pit toilets. No dump station. The sites aren’t very level.
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 3
RV Type: Truck Camper
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
Part of the Charcoal Ovens State Park. Nice, clean, water along the road, can be a bit buggy so bring off or cutter spray. New picnic tables and small pavilion at each site.
Typical pit toilet though we didn’t use it with our trailer. Eight dirt road miles from RT93 if you take the shorter road farther south from ELY, or, about 11-12 miles via the dirt road starting farther north.
Quiet hours 10pm-7am. Nice view from site 5.
Drive back about 3/4 way to RT93 for LTE Verizon signal.
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 0
Site Number: 5
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
Generally, a good campground, with decent sites and privacy. Relatively new picnic tables and ramadas, not much trash around (except in the fire rings). Some nice hiking trails.
Two stars off because it was virtually impossible to connect with any staff members. No one ever answered the phone, not even voicemail, and you are prohibited from going up to the ranger station/residence. In almost 2 weeks there, I only saw what may have been staff one time, driving through the campground without stopping. This was a problem because there are notices on the campgrounds website about fire restrictions and no portable water, and no one around to confirm these notices.
It was even more of a problem because the most obnoxiously rude campers I've ever encountered were there, and no one in authority was available to do anything about them. They were loud from sunup past sundown, with annoying, bass and drum heavy club music playing outside from the time they got up until the time they went to bed. when I asked politely, they refused to turn it down. They broke many campground rules, were vaguely threatening, and generally complete jerks. And there was no one from the state of Nevada to do anything about them.
Back in campsite was pretty unlevel on passenger side of small trailer. But nice site. Potable water was still on during stay (end of September). Now if the person who ran their generator all night wouldn't have been there it would have been a 5 star rating. 👍
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 5
RV Length: 16 ft
RV Type: Travel Trailer
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 5G
T-Mobile 5G
We stayed here the last few days of April into the first of May. The site I had booked for us wound up being too small, so we took #2 instead. Not sure why I didn't book that one in the first place. If you're large, like us - a Freightliner HDT and 45' fifth wheel - there are only a couple spots you'll fit in. And #9 is NOT one of them. The central bathroom is two pit toilets. There are some water spigots scattered around, one right across the campground road from site #2. That was convenient to wash off some of the mud we gathered on the 5-6 mile dirt road from the highway. The dirt road leading toward Ely is more like 12 miles. They are well-maintained, but when wet it's a nightmare. They are more clay than rock, so you'll be a-slippin' and a-slidin'. Once you reach the state park turnoff their road is very nice. The campground is well laid-out, sites are private with the pinyons all around. Very quiet, there were only a couple other people in the park when we were there. It was still cold at the end of April.
We purchased the Nevada State Parks All-access pass because we planned on doing many nights total in different state parks. Check it out if you're doing that, it's well worth it. This campground would have been $20 per night for non-NV residents for the entrance fee and the camping fee.
T-Mobile data was good enough to stream, our AT&T data was unusable, phone was OK.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 2
RV Length: 46 ft
RV Type: Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 4G
We went there last year. It is a little off the main road but we'll worth the visit. Great camping at this stage park. Beware it is an off Fairhaven for atv's. Can be noisy in the summer at the camp ground.
Beautiful. I learned a ton, too.
Be the first to add a review to the Willow Creek Campground at Charcoal Ovens State Park.
Willow Creek Campground at Charcoal Ovens State Park
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 12:00 am - 11:59 pm
Problem with this listing? Let us know.
Has RV parking changed? Let us know.
-
Parking
-
Pets Allowed
-
Restrooms
-
Wifi
-
Wheelchair Accessible
-
Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Last Nightly Rate
- 20.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 46 ft
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 15.0
- Max Length
- 30 ft
- Max Stay
- 14
-
Fifty Amp
-
Full Hookup
-
Pull Through
-
Tent Sites
-
Dump Station
-
Big Rigs
-
Open Seasonally
-
Age Restricted
-
Boondock
-
Cabin Sites
-
Dispersed Sites
-
Firewood
-
Fulltime Residents
-
Group Tent Sites
-
Laundry
-
Mobile Homes
-
Permit Required
-
Potable Water
-
Propane
-
Public Water
-
Pull Through RV Sites
-
Reservations
-
Sewer Hookup
-
Showers
-
Standard Tent Sites
-
Water Hookup
Campground, Parking, Restrooms
Nearby Hotels
Related Trip Guides
The top things to do on an Extraterrestrial Highway road trip
- 7 Places
- 13:23
- 615 mi
The top things to do on an I-80 road trip
- 35 Places
- 53:41
- 3,194 mi