Stokes Castle

Great spot to check out the range and basin of the local topography - or put another way - what a view! It’s about 5 mins up a dirt track, and really only needs a five minute spot to look at the vista and read the castle’s story. Good quick stop in you’re doing highway 50. Be aware that it has a fence around it, so you can’t get too close.

Stokes Castle is just a short drive from Austin, NV. Just outside of Austin. It's a dirt road, easy to drive in a car. The view is great. The castle was neat, but fenced off. It is worth going to.

A nice quick stop if you're headed that way.

Great pit stop. Great view, neat history.
No restrooms. Sketch dirt road.

We visited Stokes Castle on a trip to Austin Nevada located on Interstate Highway 50. The castle is perched on the side of a cliff and offers spectacular views. The castle itself sits behind a chain link fence and is not accessible. The sunset pictures are from the return trip home to Reno.

Certainly in the middle of nowhere, but very cool. The small town at the base of the mountain was also great. Very old western and lots of great antique and rock shops.

It's a big, unstable building, surrounded by a very tall fence, on a steep hill, in the middle of nowhere. Get gas and snacks, then go hang out at the picnic table up there. It's a great place to stretch your legs and take in the beautiful view.

Interesting structure and history. Worth the visit. Just don't be like "that guy" that was there when we were there. The structure is fenced off but this older dude from California didnt feel that he needed to stay out. He crawled through a hole in the fence and was wandering around and went in to it. Some people!

Well worth a brief stop if you are traveling through Austin. And amazingly, you can disperse camp right next to it, with incredible views all around and only 10 mins from the town.

Originally built in 1897, this elaborate three-story granite tower is a nod to the unimaginable silver wealth surrounding Austin’s boom days. Railroad magnate Anson Phelps Stokes, a prominent mine developer and banker, purchased this land to construct a summer home for his family. As a distinctive businessman and world traveler, Stokes modeled his elaborate home after a tower he had once admired in the Roman Campagna in Italy. His new castle would be built entirely of hand-hewn, native granite.

Very interesting spot as is the town around it. Kids enjoyed it and a very interesting piece of Nevada mining history.

It's a little bit of a drive up the mountain! But the view was amazing! I would definitely stop along the way if you are traveling the loneliest highway!

This place is sweet!! Wouldn’t ever think to find a castle in Arizona. Spooky and cool.

Crazy 3 story castle a family built with rocks, cedar wood, and railroad steel. View from the castle you can see 25+ miles in almost any direction.

Right off 50 and easily accessible. We stopped during the early evening and the views across the valley were tremendous. Worth a quick stop if you’re passing through.

Beautiful architecture! Worth the quick detour if you appreciate architectural history.

What a cute cozy little castle. I love the sparkle in the stones that is used. Is it made out of quartz? Is it stone from that hill?
First weekend in May and there was an infestation of spider looking grasshoppers/cricket. They are reddish and brown. They move all legs individually, even their back legs. Those bugs aren't any good at hopping away but they can sure run fast. Such interesting little grasshopperspiders? Spidercrickets? Spidergrasshoppers? Cricketspiders?

We enjoyed our visit even though you have to view the castle through a chain link fence. The view is spectacular and there’s some interpretive signage that helps you understand the history of the building. Worth the short drive.

Stokes Castle is Nevada Historical Landmark 59 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2003 as listing #03000757.

The NRHP nomination reads in part:

Stokes Castle, a three-story granite tower, was built in 1897 for Anson Phelps Stokes, who was the driving force behind the Nevada Central Railroad and Austin's mining industry.

Stokes modeled his romantic summer home on a family painting of a tower in the Roman Campagna, and he sited it on a prominence with sweeping views of the Reese River Valley. The Castle featured balconies cantilevered on railroad rails (the rails survive), plate-glass picture windows, a castellated parapet, and a rooftop terrace once shaded by a suspended canvas awning. The floors in the simply detailed interior were removed years ago to deter intruders.

Anson Phelps Stokes, his sons, a Chinese cook, and guests occupied the Castle on several occasions in 1897 and 1898. For much of the twentieth century the Castle was boarded up and subjected to deterioration and vandalism.

Threatened with removal to the Las Vegas Strip after 1950, it was saved by Stokes relative Molly Knudtsen and today stands as a testimony to her foresight.

Cool building with beautiful architecture right off highway 50.

Worth a stop while in Austin! Awesome well-preserved history.