Lightning Mountain Monument — Attraction in Nevada

This is a memorial in progress; The following excerpts authored by Jim Barden, Of Arizona who researched this site to be on the Iron Butt Tour of Honor in 2017.

Access: 24/7, no illumination, packed gravel road approach, use caution. If uncomfortable riding on gravel, a sign of "Thunder Mountain Park" will suffice.

Belonging to the State of Nevada’s Registry of Historic Sites, the monument was created by artist Frank Van Zant aka Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder.

Mr. Van Zant was a WWII veteran, serving in the Tank Corps in the European Theater, and according to his mother, “came back a completely changed man” as so many combat veterans do.

He went on to serve as a sheriff’s deputy, private investigator, and Methodist minister before proclaiming himself a full-blooded Creek Indian, and building this monument to Native Indian causes.

According to the website, “Visitors may walk through at their discretion for their own self-guided tours.”

My brother and I found it an interesting place a $2.00 fee is requested but not required and the money is said to go into the up keep and building maintenance. Very interesting place to visit worth at least $5 for...

This funky little park is worth a stop . Take a 15 minute casual walk or spend more time looking at the hippie era desert art! It is a crazy place! Usually you have the whole place to yourself! So get out stretch your legs let the dog out for a pee and see the bottle house! Many many sculptures built buy Thunder and his community friends. There are historical old peices of mining hardware throughout and a fence made out of every kind of scrap metal items you can imagine all woven together to make a fence. He built everything out of stuff he found from ghost towns and garbage dumps. It's unbelievable what they built. Take a look you'll never forget this place! And you have a beautiful view of Star peak of the Humboldt range! It's a trip! And it's free just one minute off the highway! So...

What's that old saying? "One man's junk is another man's treasures?". You will definitely realize that when you stop here. It's odd, a little weird, even strange but it's one man's art and worth the stop especially if you like to photograph unusual objects/places. Mother nature/weather and time have taken a toll. People have been destructive too. There is a very nice caretaker that can tell you about the original owner/builder and his family. I expected to make a quick stop for some unique pictures: I was there photographing and chatting with the caretaker for 2 hours and 40 minutes! I'm glad I stopped. Be careful when walking around. I had closed-toed shoes on and...