Vault 19 and Bonnie Springs

Today I woke up early to see the signs along the Nevada State Route 159, south of Red Rock Canyon. The weather was cooler today and I had fully restocked my supply of nuka-gatorade for the trek. I took some photos of the sunrise coming up over the canyon but they did not turn out too great. I hope that everyone will trust me when I say that it was absolutely magnificent.

Locations

# 16 – Poseidon gas station
# 17 – Nopah cave
# 18 – Spring Mountain Ranch State Park
# 80 – Bonnie Springs
# 81 – Vault 19
# 82 – Whittaker farmstead
# 300 – Mountain Springs

Location Details

# 18 – Spring Mountain Ranch State Park – This location exists in our world in the same name and place. I was not sure why it was closed when I arrived the first time, but when I was driving back two days later, the gate was open and I was able to explore within.

The game does an incredibly good job replicating this location. It is greener than the surrounding area due to the springs and lake, and the same fence and outbuildings can be seen, in various states of disrepair. There are also similar trees (some dead, some living) and a picnic and parking area, similar to the game.

# 80 – Bonnie Springs – I was pleased to find that Bonnie Springs is a real place in our world, in the same location. Or I suppose I should clarify that it was a real location. When I pulled up to the gate, it had a closed sign. I was confused because the information I found online said it was open during my arrival time – mid morning on a Tuesday. Since I did not have reception, I took a picture of the main gate, noted a question mark in my notebook, and moved on.

When I was able to get connection, I was appalled to find out that Bonnie Springs was sold to some piece of shit developer who is building piece of shit luxury homes. Pardon my churlishness, but this news was very heartbreaking for me. Since this had all transpired since I planned the trip, I had no idea. I will include photos from the Bonnie Springs website for posterity’s sake. I was in time to see Mt. Charleston’s resort before it was rebranded and made to be presumably terrible, but not Bonnie Springs. RIP.

Addendum: I learned that there was a petition to save Bonnie Springs, and I want to thank the 74,011 people who supported this cause.

Addendum 2: I bought these shot glasses and menu holder for myself on eBay due to my relentless sadness, which did succeed in making me a little less glum.

# 81 – Vault 19 – As I have perhaps mentioned previously, many locations, including the vaults of New Vegas, are located is similar geographical locations as real world fallout shelters. Although the entire list of Clark County shelters are closed, I found this to be an exceptionally exciting fact to uncover. Vault 19 similarly situated in the same real world location as 41-E Blue Diamond Mine, the location of one of such real world fallout shelters. In the exact spot there is a strange antennae / tree thing (?).

It is also where NV-159 meets up with NV-160. Before anyone gets as confused as I was (am), in the game, Nevada State Route 160 is the road that runs through Goodsprings, but in real life it is NV-161 that runs through Goodsprings. The real NV-160 is down here by the Vault 19 area. I will remind everyone of this professional chart I made.

The pictures above are Goodsprings, real life vs in-game, and below is Vault 19 area, real life vs … in game that has no named road. Ok! Everybody got that? No? Me neither!

# 82 – Whittaker farmstead – This location in our world is close to a similar place called Oliver Ranch. It is named after Chauncey Oliver, a homesteader, not sure if there is any relation to the general. It is an incredibly “fallout” place, with abandoned outbuildings complete with curtains, dishes, and other personal effects. There is even a pool and garage, complete with what looks to be farming equipment or tools. There is another building south of Ivanpah that looks very similar as well. In both cases, I could not figure out what the places were used for, other than personal residences that have long since been abandoned. I read that they have plans to turn Oliver Ranch into a school in the future.

Addendum: As of February 2020, the Ivanpah homes were torn down. Boo.

# 17 – Nopah cave – This cave is likely named after the Nopah Range Wilderness Area, due west of Sandy Valley. The part I went to was called the South Nopah Range Wilderness Area, a part of the range, the location of a lot of old mines. The one that looked the most similar was called War Eagle Mine. It is bordering the Tecopa Pass, that had a lot of grave sites.

A few points of interest in this area were fairly Fallout New Vegas-esque towns of Tecopa and Shoshone. I really liked the Shoshone Museum, where I saw a car that has a license plate similar to the blue trucks I am always scouring the wasteland for, as well as a few buildings that remind me of various in game locations. If you are interested, you can check out a variety of collections I have made about real world stuff I have found compared to the in-game equivalents, like Mojave plants, cars, and of course, random stuff.

# 300 – Mountain Springs – This location was cut from the final game but exists in the real world as Mountain Springs. It is a little town in the mountain pass of Nevada State Route 160. When I was driving through here, westbound, there was a lot of construction and it took me foreverrrr to get through – and my ears would not stop popping the whole time. But I did get some brisket which gave me some pep.

# 16 – Poseidon gas station – In our world, where Nevada State Route 159 converges with the outer skirts of Vegas, there is not a gas station that looks similar. Also, in the game world, it is Nevada State Route 160 that begins here, as opposed to NV-159, but I won’t go into it again. As a stand-in, I found an abandoned gas station in Westside that looks a lot like the gas station here, so I will include the photo below.