Ward Charcoal Ovens: Nevada's Forgotten Stone Giants
Twenty miles south of Ely, Nevada, six beehive-shaped stone ovens rise out of the sagebrush like something out of a fantasy novel. They've stood for nearly 150 years, and most people driving Highway 93 have no idea they're there. In our latest video, we hike through Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park to find out how six 30-foot stone ovens ended up in the middle of the high desert and why they're still standing.
A Boomtown That Needed Fire
In the 1870s, the town of Ward was booming. Silver had been discovered in the Egan Mountain Range, and within a few years the town swelled to roughly 1,500 residents, complete with its own newspaper, saloons, and two working smelters. But smelting silver ore takes an enormous amount of heat, and heat that consistent requires charcoal, not firewood, which burns too fast and too dirty for the job.
That's where the ovens come in. Built between 1876 and 1879, the six beehive kilns at Ward were designed to do one thing efficiently: turn locally harvested timber into high-quality charcoal, in bulk, to keep the smelters running. It's easy to miss just how much wood a mining district like this could consume; entire hillsides of pinyon and juniper were cut and hauled in to feed these ovens around the clock.
Built by Master Craftsmen
The ovens themselves are a small marvel of 19th-century engineering. They were built by Swiss-Italian stonemasons known as carbonari (literally, "charcoal makers") who brought a beehive kiln design from Italy that was far more efficient than the open-pit charcoal burning common in the American West at the time.
Each oven stands about 30 feet high and 27 feet in diameter, with walls two feet thick at the base, built from quartz latite welded tuff quarried nearby. The beehive shape wasn't just for looks — it controlled airflow precisely enough to convert wood to charcoal slowly and evenly, without simply burning it to ash. It's the kind of structure that was built to last generations, even though nobody expected it to still be standing a century and a half later.
From Industry to Outlaw Hideout
Ward's silver didn't last. By the early 1880s, the richest ore was gone, the smelters went cold, and the town that once housed 1,500 people emptied out. The ovens, no longer needed for charcoal production, took on a second life, sheltering sheepherders, travelers, and prospectors passing through the high desert.
According to local lore, they also became a convenient hideout for stagecoach bandits, who could duck into a 30-foot stone beehive and disappear from view entirely. True or exaggerated, it's the kind of detail that turns an industrial ruin into a genuine piece of Old West legend.
Visiting Ward Charcoal Ovens Today
Today, the ovens anchor a 700-acre state historic park in the Egan Mountain Range, and they're recognized as some of the best-preserved charcoal kilns in the country — earning a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
A few things worth knowing before you go:
The park is open year-round, with a day-use fee of $5 per vehicle for Nevada residents ($10 for out-of-state plates). Beyond the ovens, a trail system connects both ends of the park, along with camping and picnicking areas. Willow Creek supports a naturally reproducing trout population, so it's worth bringing a rod if you're into fishing. Wildlife sightings are common, including elk, mule deer, bobcat, coyote, and a variety of birds. In winter, the same trails open up for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
It's a quiet, uncrowded park — the kind of place where you can stand inside a 19th-century stone oven and not see another person for an hour or more.
Watch the Full Video
We put together a full video walking through the ovens
Location: Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, 1696 Cave Valley Road, Ely, NV
Best for: History buffs, road-trippers, photographers, and anyone chasing quiet corners of Nevada
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