My wife and I decided to drive up to Virginia City for a Saturday. Â We came across the Ponderosa Saloon and Mine and wanted to do the tour. Â The saloon side of things has man historical facts and relics of the old Comstock Mine and Virginia City. Â It is a very interesting place to visit. Â Unfortunately, we did not have time to try out the saloon.
Then there was the mine tour.... Â First of all who can pass up the mine tour. Â We met our tour guide (photo of the man with the miners hat in the gallery) and he started to give us a brief history of the mine. Â Then he starting to act a little weird to a point where he was not acting as part of the mine tour. Â Then he started to yell and being very belligerent to the tour. Â The mood of the tour for the entire group went from excited being on a mine tour to OMG! Â We are stuck in a mine with a psycho. Â
At this point everyone stopped being happy to worried. Â He was acting weird and being angry all through the tour. Â My wife and I was thinking of just walking out of the tour. Â We didn't in case we angered the tour guide some more and he wold do something crazy.
Pretty much this one nut job turned a 5-Star tour to something that look like the beginning of a horror movie.
Was scouting around for places to go for my church group. Â Virginia City I will return and make a future trip. Â The mine tour however we will avoid like the plaque.
Best saloon in Virginia City !
Have a few drinks, walk through the old bank vault, and definitely take the mine tour. The mine tour is cheap, short, & fun ! The tour guide was very nice and informative. The bartender could have been a little nicer, but I like me a grizzled mountain woman to serve me a beer when I'm in a mining town, so no worries there.
It looked like they have lots of space for entertaining (a spot for bands to play and plenty of seating) although there wasn't any of that happening while I've been there. The streets were packed for a chili festival, so they could have had SOME kind of entertainment. I would have enjoyed hanging out there longer.
I love this bar. Few reasons:
1. They have a stage for bands to play.
2. There is a goddamn MINE in the back of it!
3. Walls are filled with knowledge treasures.
4. The bartender is awesome and will remember you the next morning when you come back in for the mine tour.
5. They serve food. Not the best food (certainly not the PBR soaked dogs you find at a bar in SF), but food nonetheless.
6. It's creepy, but not doll-outside-the-door-holding-a-sign creepy.
7. Pool table!
8. Plenty of space to party.
I had a TON of fun here. The night before was me, drinking, walking around with my camera taking a ton of photos and getting to know the locals. Everyone is happy, friendly, and wants to have a good time. The next morning we entered again to go on the mine tour - don't worry, it's not as long or deep as you'd think, so unless you suffer from claustrophobia in the highest degree, then this will do you just fine. By the time you get to the end, you look up and see how far below you are. My great-grandfather was Swiss and a blaster, so it was awesome to learn about what he did. Basically, he was a grade-A badass.
Highly recommend everyone comes here on their trip to Virginia City!
There's a lot of history crammed into this particular drinking establishment. So let's start at the beginning. First, the building was actually a well-established bank that survived well into the early 20th century- and even robbed with the bounty never recovered (local lore has it that one of the bandits fiercly guards the treasure, located somewhere in Six Mile Canyon). But as the mines dried up, so did the funds, and the bank closed. Â A few years later, the building was converted into a bar- still holding onto the original safe, and a few traces of the tellers (if you look up, you'll see the lights along the bar, which mark where each teller window was located).
According to local history, the  bar owners discovered in the 70's that the Best & Belcher mine shaft was located directly behind the bar, within a relative easy digging ditance. Sensing a tourist gold mine, the owners dug a shaft in the back of the bar into the unsuccessful mine,  made it tourist-safe, set up shop, and the mine began making more money than it did in it's short unprofitable existance. Â
And it's worth the price. Plan on spending at least one to two hours here. there's a lot to see and do.
Ponderosa Saloon & Mine is a saloon that features an entrance to part of Best & Belcher mine right in the back of the room, with 20-minute tours daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Our guide's name tag appropriately read, "Yes, I am Santa," as he was the spitting image of the jolly fellow, and as friendly as you could imagine. He was happy to answer all our questions and even pose for pictures after the tour. The saloon also houses an old bank vault you can walk into and many large mounted animal heads if you glance up toward the ceiling. Even if you're not a fan of mounted animal heads, do be sure to look around or else you will miss historical explanations and stories on plaques scattered throughout the saloon. My whole visit to Virginia City, NV was a fun blast from the past, but this place and tour was definitely the highlight of the trip.
Review Source:We were in Virginia City... So the trip wouldn't feel complete without touring the mines that made this city boom in the 1800's.
We originally wanted to tour another mine that is off the main thouroughfare but found it was closed, so we settled for the Ponderosa Tour... "Santa" was our tour guide and he was great, he actually looked like Santa, complete with a curly white moustache and all. The tour starts out by going through a metal door in the back of the Saloon. After you walk through the door, you have the option of wearing a hard hat (the beams are pretty low, so it's often a good idea, especially for tall people) which i chose to decline. I thought that Santa was a great storyteller, and I enjoyed the tour very much... It's a bit short though, and the mine doesnt go back very far... but it is very interesting for the $4.50 you spend to take a looksy :)
Oh! and the bar has Hot Dogs!! Woohoo!
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