The geographic center of Nevada and the large hole in the ground nearby

Nevada is a state in the western United States, a territory famous for its aridity and its most populated city, Las Vegas.

Snooping around the Tonopah Test Range, one of the most secretive sites in the United States
Nelson, Nevada: a United States town where time stood still in the 1950s

Between 87 and 90% of Nevada's surface area is desert. This is an enormous expanse, as the state covers 286,382 square kilometers, more than three times the size of the region of Andalusia. The geographic center of this state is in Nye County, the largest county in Nevada and the third largest in the United States, with an area of ​​47,140 square kilometers (almost as large as the region of Aragon). The capital of Nye is Tonopah, which gives its name to the famous Test Range popularly known as Area 52.

Near the geographic center of Nevada is a large hole in the ground called Diana's Punchbowl, though it's also known by the ominous name of Devil's Cauldron. It's a hole about 15 meters in diameter located on top of a travertine hill. At 9 meters deep, it's a hot spring where bathing would cause severe burns, as the water there is 93°C (207°F). Two months ago, the always interesting YouTube channel Sidetrack Adventures posted a video visiting this hole and searching for the geographic center of the state:

You can see some screenshots from this interesting video here. There is no paved road leading to central Nevada. Instead, there is a long, albeit very well-maintained, dirt road.

The first sign of civilization that the video's author encounters on this road is a funerary monument to an 18-year-old girl who died in 1997. You can see it up close in the video.

Diana's Punchbowl Hot Spring. According to the author, its existence is documented from the 1940s onwards. You can see what it looks like inside in the video.

What we see here is the sign that marks what was the center of the state until 2015. You can see it more closely in the video. It's clear that not many people pass by there. The video's creator also shows the new state center. It's even more desolate...

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Main image: Sidetrack Adventures.