Gerlach, Nevada is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 130 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Prior to 2010, Gerlach was part of the Gerlach–Empire census-designated place. The town of Empire is now a separate CDP. The next nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles (100 km) to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The Fly Geyser is located near Gerlach.
Gerlach–Empire was a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was replaced by the separate CDPs of Gerlach and Empire for the 2010 census. The combined population was 499 at the 2000 census. A former company town for United States Gypsum Corporation, Empire was once home to more than 750 people. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the population lives in the two tiny settlements of Gerlach, a neighboring hamlet with fewer than 200 people that shares its schools with Empire; the rest live on outlying rural ranching properties. The nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.
The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe ecoregion) of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt playa 100 miles (160 km) north of Reno, Nevada, that encompasses more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of land and contains more than 120 miles (200 km) of historic trails. It is in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan.
The Great Basin, named for the geography in which water is unable to flow out and remains in the basin, is a rugged land serrated by hundreds of mountain ranges, dried by wind and sun, with spectacular skies and scenic landscapes. The average annual precipitation (in the years 1971–2000) at Gerlach (in the extreme south-west of the desert) is 7.90 inches (200 mm).
Fly Geyser, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser, is a small geothermal geyser located on private land in Washoe County, Nevada, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Gerlach. Fly Geyser is located near the edge of Fly Reservoir in the Hualapai Geothermal Flats and is approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high by 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, counting the mound on which it sits.
In June 2016, the non-profit Burning Man Project purchased the 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) Fly Ranch, including the geyser, for $6.5 million. The Burning Man Project began offering limited public access to the property in May 2018. The geyser contains thermophilic bacteria and archaea, which flourish in moist, hot environments, resulting in multiple hues of green and red, coloring the rocks.