Marietta Wild Burro Range: An RV Traveler's Guide

Marietta is deep in Nevada's mineral country, a high, dry basin near a historic mining ghost town. The Bureau of Land Management runs this as one of the relatively few areas focused on free-roaming wild burros, whose ancestors were pack animals during the mining era. The setting is remote and quiet, so a visit means real desert travel and self-sufficiency.

The burros are protected under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the federal law directing the BLM to manage and protect wild horses and burros on public lands. They are wild animals — even though burros can seem curious or calm, visitors should keep their distance, never feed them (feeding draws them to roads and harms them), and avoid touching or crowding them.

There are no developed resort services out here, so plan an RV visit carefully: carry water, fuel and supplies, and check road conditions with the BLM, especially after weather. Towns like Hawthorne to the north make a practical base. Enjoy the burros and the wide desert quietly, leaving them and the land as you found them.