If you're interested in what happens when Wall Street realizes they're throwing good money after bad in a Nevada town ... but also want to get out of Las Vegas for a day ... we suggest a trip to Rhyolite.

It's an old mining town that cleared out about 100 years ago when investors, including financier Charles Schwab, discovered the gold veins weren't as rich as they first suspected.

Today Rhyolite is a nice place to find solitude, see some neat ruins, do a little hiking and ponder what happens to Nevada towns when the outside money dries up. Yeesh. Take beer.

Today we offer the first in what we hope will become a vibrant feature, interviews with people we think readers will appreciate.

Our first conversation is with Hal Summers of La Quinta, Calif. 

Yeah, we know this is NEVADA Outdoor News. But Summers is an avid desert hiker in the midst of a great personal project. He's hiking every day throughout 2009. He also agreed to do an interview, which helped.

Here are some new posts on China Ranch, a date farm near Tecopa, Calif., where we got these date-banana shakes.

The ranch is close to the Amargosa River, which is great for hiking.

Click here for the China Ranch post and here for a hike to a slot canyon along the river.

The Los Angeles Times published an impressive selection of road trips recently. The item has been getting tons of clicks for the Times.

The writing and directions are geared toward Southern California residents. But some of these are reasonable day trips for Southern Nevadans.

Of course, you can always browse Nevada Outdoor News for the best places to go from Las Vegas.