Northern Nevada's largest haunted house is staged inside a penitentiary that opened in 1862 and closed in 2012. About 30 miles from the Reno airport, under an hour from the lake, and the building does half the scaring itself.
EVERY OTHER HAUNTBUILDS A FAKE PRISON.THIS ONE WAS BUILT BY INMATES.
Quarried sandstone, cut by convicts and stacked into cellblocks on a hill above Carson City. Real people were locked up here. Real executions happened here. Nobody can copy that, and we don't try to fake it. We build the haunt inside it.
The record · 1858 to now
150 YEARS ON ONE HILL.
SCROLL TO READ THE FILE
1858
THE HOTEL
Abraham Curry buys a hot spring and a hill of easy sandstone, then builds the Warm Springs Hotel on top of it.
1862
THE PENITENTIARY
The Territorial Legislature turns the hotel into Nevada's first prison. Curry becomes its first warden.
1870
THE FIRES
Fire, in 1867 and again in 1870. Inmates rebuild the cellblocks from stone they cut themselves. The same quarry supplies the State Capitol.
1870s
THE FOOTPRINTS
The quarry gives up fossil tracks: mammoth, dire wolf, giant sloth. For a while people swore the sloth prints belonged to giants.
1924
THE CHAMBER
Gee Jon is executed by lethal gas, the first in the United States. Thirty-two people would die in that room by 1979.
1932
THE BULLPEN
Inmates open a casino behind the walls. Blackjack, craps, brass tokens. It runs until 1967.
2012
THE GATE
The state locks it for good after 150 years, one of the oldest continuously operating prisons in the country.
NOW
THE HAUNT
Every fall, three haunts and more than 60 actors fill the cellblocks and the yard. Your ticket helps the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society keep the place standing.
Getting here
THREE ROADS IN.
FROM RENO + SPARKS
I-580 / US-395 south into Carson City. About 30 miles from the Reno airport, and the drive most of our guests make.
FROM LAKE TAHOE
US-50 east over Spooner Summit from the south shore, NV-28 to US-50 from the north. Under an hour from either side of the lake.
FROM DOWNTOWN CARSON CITY
East on 5th Street to Warm Springs Court. Minutes. You can see the massive prison from 5th Street, even from the freeway.
THE ADDRESS
3301 WARM SPRINGS CT, CARSON CITY, NV 89701
Three lots on the property, all free. Follow the attendants. If your maps app argues, aim for the corner of 5th Street and Warm Springs Court.
The original cellblock, and the reason the building does half the scaring itself. New storyline for 2026.
WHAT WAITS INSIDE · 02 / 03
UNIT 15
The security office where the Warden made his last stand, the license plate factory, the cafeteria where the Butcher picks his cuts, the laundry, the chapel, the morgue, and the sewers.
WHAT WAITS INSIDE · 03 / 03
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE UNWELL
A psychiatric ward built in 1957 for inmates too far gone to rehabilitate. Wavy walls and a dorm room are new this year.
The cast
60+ LIVE ACTORS. NO TOUCHING. THEY DON'T NEED TO.
Prosthetics, scleral contacts, blood tracks you can read at arm's length. Trained actors and guides work every corridor, and there are exit points throughout the haunt if you need one.
32,000+
SQUARE FEET OF PRISON
60+
LIVE ACTORS
3
FREE PARKING LOTS
1862
THE YEAR IT OPENED
Plan the night
SEPT 25 TO NOV 1. TIMED ENTRY. THIS EVENT SELLS OUT.
General admission is $34.95 online and $49.95 at the box office. VIP is $74.95 online with its own entrance, a 5 to 10 minute wait, the Private Museum of Curiosities, the Education Wing rooms, and a commemorative gift. Pick your night and your slot at checkout, then buy in advance. Once a slot fills, it's gone.
Our hotel partner. 3870 S Carson St, four miles from the prison, next door to the Casino Fandango.
RULES
NO COSTUMES. NO TOUCHING.
Metal detectors at the gate. No masks, face paint, outside food or drink, or recording inside the haunts. Under 5 not permitted inside the haunts. Parents can wait in the yard for free.
THE YARD
FOOD TRUCKS, GAMES, THE SHIV BAR
All three haunts open onto the yard: live entertainment, projection mapping, photo ops, carnival games, Carson City food trucks, and a 21+ bar in the old muster room, moved outdoors and expanded for 2026.
NEVADA STATE PRISON
