1.4 Million Acres Of Nevada For Sale

In a throwback to the homestead era, a sprawling mass of Nevada bigger than Las Vegas and Reno combined is on the auction block this week, offering bidders a chunk of the state for as little as $50 an acre.

There’s a catch though: It’s remote.

No roads, no power, little water.

“This is cowboy property eight to 10 miles off the freeway,” broker John Blom said at a meeting with potential bidders in Las Vegas.

The government gave the 1.4 million acres to a rail company for completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

In 1995, the Santa Fe Railroad sold it to a real estate company, the Nevada Land & Resource Co. of Reno.

The 101 parcels, ranging from 155 to 714 acres, are scattered across 340 miles of desert from east of Reno to Wells, most of them within a fairly short drive - or horseback ride - of Interstate 80. The company has received inquiries from Hong Kong, England and Germany.