Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District and many settled in Rhyolite. By the end of 1910, the mine was operating at a loss, and it closed in 1911. After 1920, Rhyolite and its ruins became a tourist attraction and a setting for motion pictures.