Fly Ranch

The Fly Ranch was first homesteaded in the late 1800s by Fred Gerlach, son of Louis, for whom the town of Gerlach was named. Later it was a part of the John Casey estate, until it was sold to Todd Jaksick (Bright Holland Corporation) in 1998. The feature known as "Fly Geyser" has attracted a substantial amount of interest since it developed from a leaking geothermal well into a striking colorful spouting statue, sitting on a dais of mud amidst ponds of warm water and thriving plants. The property is generally off limits to visitors because of liability and vandalism concerns.

Friends of Black Rock attempted to offer tours of the geyser during the annual Black Rock Rendezvous but the tour was cancelled. See the March 24, 2007 Fly Ranch tour photos.

In September, 2010, there was a plan to buy Fly Geyser, see Archive.org: 13 May 2011 http://gotgeyser.com.

http://flyranchproject.org/ discusses Burning Man efforts at purchasing the land.

News Items

• Las Vegas Sun, January 29, 2010 "Geyser on private land chosen as attraction to draw tourists to state."
• November 2001 Reno Gazette Journal article

Images

• Online Fly Geyser Jigsaw Puzzle

• March 24, 2007 Fly Ranch tour photos

• http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/wallpaper/blackrockgeysermineral.html

• Some older photos

• Nevada's Last Chance Scenic Places

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: photography, "Nature's Best" Landscape Winner

• Virtual Reality view one

• Virtual Reality view two

• Google Map

• http://www.uga.edu/srel/Nevada_Hot_Springs/travel-4-2004.htm

• http://blog.visitrenotahoe.com/2006/06/14/fly-geyser-one-of-nevadas-little-surprises/

• http://planetoddity.com/a-geyser-not-like-any-other-geyser/

• http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/12/fly-geyser-not-quite-of-this-world.html

• http://www.pixelchrome.com/blog/?p=5369

• http://www.wonders-world.com/2011/02/fly-geyser-in-black-rock-desert.html

Geology

• Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Geothermal slides including Fly Geyser

• Fly Ranch section of Larry J. Garside, John Harold Schilling, Mackay School of Mines, "Thermal waters of Nevada," Volume 91 of Bulletin (Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology)
  • Archive.org version of the above with working links to some of the images.
  • Washoe County chapter of "Thermal waters of Nevada"

• 2005 Public notice about a meeting to discuss injecting Portable Toilet water from Burning Man at Fly Ranch: Public Notice, Authorization to Apply Portable Toilet Fluid (Permit), Wiki version of the notice

• UNR Carpenter Collection Description "#1095 Reservoir fountain twenty-four miles north of Gerlach."