to
Update
is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lander County, Nevada, United States. The population was 2,871 at the 2000 census. Though it has no legal status as a municipality, it still functions as the county seat of Lander County. Its primary economic base is gold mining and to a lesser extent, legalized gaming.
"The name itself may strike the ignorant as being a place with a mischievous past, yet the land has never once seen the pain brought from warfare. The land that this town rests on has only seen the pain brought from isolation and infertility."-Chava of the Temoke Family. Battle Mountain is perhaps best known as having been designated with the dubious distinction of "armpit of America" in a 2001
article. Battle Mountain has capitalized on this notoriety by staging an annual "Old Spice Armpit Festival", starting in 2002 which has since been done away with.
Among human-powered vehicle enthusiasts, Battle Mountain is famous for hosting annual bike races on a long, straight, flat stretch of Highway 305 just outside of town. Pedaling a streamlined two-wheeler at 81.00 MPH over a 200 meter distance in 2002, Sam Whittingham established himself as "the fastest man alive". This event is known as the 'World Human Powered Speed Challenge' On Sept. 18 2008, Sam established a new record of , thereby winning the .decimach prize for going one tenth the speed of sound (with adjustments for slope and altitude).
Also annually held on the same stretch of road is the 'Pony Express', an open road event from Battle Mountain to Austin and back again. This make the longest open road race in the country, averaging a total of . This race consists of cars from the 60's era muscle cars to the most modern European sports cars.
Battle Mountain was the temporary home of the Walls family in the autobiography The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The Owl Motel located in Battle Mountain was used in the 2001 film Joy Ride.
Author Dale Brown based his books, Plan of Attack and Air Battle Force, in Battle Mountain.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.