Mustang Ranch occupies a unique place in Nevada’s legal brothel industry. Located in Storey County just east of Reno, the current Mustang operates 24 hours a day, maintains an online lineup of available courtesans, offers themed suites, operates its own restaurant and bar and provides transportation from the Reno area. It is also connected, physically and historically, to the brothel that became Nevada’s first officially sanctioned legal house of prostitution in 1971.
The history can become confusing because today’s Mustang is not located on Joe Conforte’s original Mustang Ranch property. In 2003, entrepreneur, developer and brothel owner Lance Gilman purchased the historic Mustang I building and Mustang Ranch trademark from the federal government. The building was subsequently moved several miles to Gilman’s existing Wild Horse Canyon property, where the Wild Horse Ranch brothel was already operating. The two operations eventually became one.
For visitors, however, the Mustang Ranch is very much a current business with an identity of its own, rather than simply a preserved piece of Nevada history.
Where Is Mustang Ranch?
Mustang Ranch lists its address as 1011 Wild Horse Canyon Drive, Sparks, Nevada 89434. Although the ranch uses a Sparks mailing address, it is physically located in Storey County, outside Sparks and Washoe County, where brothels are prohibited.
Mustang is the closest operating legal brothel to Reno.
The Wild Horse Canyon location also places Mustang next to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. L. Lance Gilman Commercial Real Estate lists its office at 1007 Wild Horse Canyon Drive. Mustang is at 1011.
Is Mustang Ranch Open 24 Hours?
Yes. Mustang Ranch says it is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and reservations are not required.
Visitors can arrive at the ranch and meet courtesans who are available or use Mustang’s booking system to request a particular woman in advance. The ranch also maintains a current online lineup.
Mustang describes the atmosphere as relaxed. Its website tells prospective customers, “You are never rushed and you are never pressured,” and says guests can spend time in the lounge and parlor, have a meal, enjoy a drink or meet one of the courtesans.
What Happens When You Visit Mustang Ranch?
Visitors can arrange a meeting with a particular courtesan before arriving or come to the ranch without an appointment and meet the women who are available. Mustang’s advance booking system asks for contact information, the planned date of the visit and the courtesan the customer would like to meet.
Mustang also posts an anti-scam warning on its booking pages. The company says no member of its team will contact a prospective customer asking for money or payment information. Anyone arranging a visit online should therefore be cautious about unsolicited messages from someone claiming to represent the ranch.
How Much Does Mustang Ranch Cost?
Mustang Ranch does not publish a standard dollar price list on the main visitor pages we reviewed.
Prices throughout Nevada’s legal brothel industry can vary considerably according to the individual courtesan, the time involved and what is negotiated. Our review of reported Nevada brothel transactions over several decades found a very wide range of prices, which is one reason claims about a universal hourly brothel rate should be treated cautiously. Our Nevada brothel prices guide examines the available evidence in greater detail.
Mustang is more explicit about its escort service. The ranch says escort charges are negotiated with the individual independent contractor and that “Each Contractor establishes their own fee structure.”
Who Works at Mustang Ranch?
Mustang maintains individual courtesan profiles and an online lineup showing women currently available at the ranch. Its public schedules are unusually detailed compared with many other Nevada brothels.
In our 2026 Nevada Brothel Status Report, Brothel Nevada documented 93 different Mustang Ranch courtesan affiliations between January and August, more than we were able to substantiate at any other individual Nevada brothel during the same period. This does not mean that 93 women were working at Mustang at one time. The Status Report counted a worker once for each house where a 2026 affiliation could be substantiated, and Mustang’s dated schedules provided more information than was publicly available from some other brothels.
Storey County requires sex workers at licensed brothels to obtain a county work card. The county’s work-card rules use 18 as the age threshold, providing that the sheriff may deny a work card to anyone under 18. Our Nevada Brothel Laws guide lists 18 as Storey County’s minimum sex-worker age and compares age, work-card and other local requirements throughout the state.
The Mustang Ranch Lounge and Restaurant
One of Mustang Ranch’s more distinctive amenities is the Mustang Ranch Lounge, a full restaurant and bar located at the Mustang Ranch complex.
The current menu includes breakfast from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m., along with a substantial selection of lunch and dinner offerings including salads, burgers, sandwiches, steaks and other entrees.
The restaurant is also part of the way Mustang describes the brothel experience. Visitors are told they can relax in the lounge, eat a meal or have a drink before meeting a courtesan. Its location beside the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center also gives the Mustang Ranch Lounge an unusual setting for a brothel restaurant.
Luxury Suites at Mustang Ranch
Mustang currently advertises five themed private suites: the Private Jacuzzi Room, Spanish Villa Suite, Western Suite, Asian Luxury Suite and Dungeon Suite. The ranch provides video tours of the rooms on its website.
Mustang’s current Pleasure Menu also says overnight stays with a courtesan in her private room can be arranged.
Are Couples Welcome at Mustang Ranch?
Yes. Mustang states that “Husbands, wives and partners of all kinds are welcome” at the ranch.
The company also markets visits to couples and groups, including bachelor and bachelorette parties, and Mustang says customers can arrange bookings involving two courtesans.
Transportation From Reno
Mustang Ranch says it can arrange car service for visitors and also provides contact information for a local taxi service. The ranch describes itself as approximately 15 minutes from Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
There is another transportation detail that makes more sense once you see where Mustang is located. The ranch says its parking area can accommodate semi-trucks with trailers. Mustang sits near Interstate 80 and beside the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center.
Does Mustang Ranch Offer Outdates?
Yes. Mustang says it operates a licensed escort service in addition to its brothel business and allows properly arranged off-property dates with its independent contractors. According to the ranch, these dates begin at Mustang and can include dinner, shows, concerts, gambling, skiing, sightseeing and trips to Lake Tahoe.
Mustang explains that off-property escort dates are intended for companionship and entertainment, while sexual activity takes place at the licensed brothel. Storey County law follows the same distinction, allowing escort services associated with licensed brothels and specifically recognizing activities such as dining, entertainment, gaming, dancing, shopping and sightseeing.
For visitors interested in spending time with a Mustang courtesan away from the ranch, the brothel recommends making the arrangement directly at Mustang before leaving the property.
Mustang Ranch and the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center
Mustang Ranch sits beside the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, the massive Storey County development long associated with Lance Gilman’s commercial real-estate business. TRI eventually attracted major industrial and technology companies including Tesla, Google and Switch.
The relationship is noteworthy because Nevada politicians have periodically argued that legal brothels make the state less attractive to conventional businesses. In a February 2011 speech to the Nevada Legislature, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid described meeting businessmen who operated technology data centers and had considered locating a facility in Storey County. Reid said one was surprised to learn that legal prostitution was a major business there and used the story as part of his argument that Nevada should outlaw prostitution if it wanted to attract new industries.
TRI subsequently developed into a major technology, manufacturing and distribution center while Mustang continued operating nearby. The Nevada Independent reported that during TRI’s lean years, the industrial park relied in part on cash from Mustang Ranch. “Without Mustang Ranch, there might not be TRI,” Gilman told the magazine.
Reid’s account suggests that legal prostitution concerned at least one prospective businessman. At the same time, Mustang and TRI have operated beside one another during a period in which Storey County attracted major industrial investment.
Mustang Ranch and Storey County
Lance Gilman served 12 years as an elected Storey County commissioner before leaving office at the end of 2024. In January 2025, the county formally adopted a resolution honoring his service, with County Manager Austin Osborne crediting Gilman with helping set the foundation for what Storey County is today.
His son, Donald “Donny” Gilman, now represents District 3 on the three-member Storey County Commission.
Because brothel regulation comes before the county commission, the overlap has also required recusals. Lance Gilman recused himself from documented brothel-related proceedings during his time on the commission. In April 2026, Donny Gilman recused himself from the public hearing and second reading of an ordinance involving Storey County’s brothel licensing fees.
Mustang also appears in Storey County’s record of community activity. In its 2025 Year in Review, the county credited Mustang Ranch and Redwood Materials with providing more than 200 turkeys and 200 side dishes to local families for Thanksgiving.
Mustang Ranch Became Nevada’s First Legal Brothel
Brothels had operated openly in Nevada for decades, often through local tolerance rather than the formal licensing structures used today. In 1971, Mustang Ranch became Nevada’s first licensed legal brothel under Storey County’s newly established brothel-licensing system. The broader history of how that formal licensing system developed is covered in our Nevada brothel history timeline.
The Conforte-era Mustang has a much longer history that we cover elsewhere on Brothel Nevada. For understanding the Mustang Ranch operating today, the more relevant story begins with what happened after the federal government took control.
How Today’s Mustang Ranch Came Together
In October 2003, Lance Gilman won a federal auction for the Mustang I building and Mustang Ranch trademark, paying $145,100.
Rather than reopen the brothel on the old Mustang property, Gilman moved the historic Mustang I structure approximately five miles to Wild Horse Canyon, where he was already operating the Wild Horse Ranch. Contemporary reporting described the purchase as including the familiar pink-stucco building and watchtower.
Much of Mustang I was divided into sections that could travel by road, but the central parlor was approximately 63 feet wide. In September 2004, a double-rotor helicopter lifted the oversized section and carried it to Wild Horse Canyon.
Later that year, Storey County approved a second brothel license for the relocated Mustang building beside Wild Horse Ranch. Sheriff Pat Whitten described Wild Horse during the licensing process as “one of the shining examples of how a business can be run” and praised its management, security and drug-screening policies.
The building was ready before the fight over its famous name was finished. When the reconstructed brothel prepared to open in July 2005, ongoing trademark litigation prevented Gilman from using “Mustang Ranch.” The business opened instead as the World Famous Brothel, and contemporary reporting noted that the signs advertising the brothel off Interstate 80 remained covered.
In December 2006, a federal judge ruled that Gilman was the exclusive owner of the Mustang Ranch trademark, clearing the way for the name to return.
For several years, Wild Horse Ranch and Mustang Ranch operated as separate brothels at the same Wild Horse Canyon complex. After the Wild Horse license was revoked in 2011, Storey County records describe the relicensing of Mustang to cover both properties. By 2015, county officials said the former Wild Horse and Mustang brothels had been consolidated into one operation.
Today’s Mustang therefore carries more than the historic name. It incorporates the relocated Mustang I structure while also developing out of the Wild Horse Ranch operation that was already established at Wild Horse Canyon. Our Nevada Brothel Genealogy project examines those property, business and name relationships in greater detail.
Is Today’s Mustang Ranch the Original Mustang Ranch?
Today’s Mustang occupies different land from the original Conforte-era ranch. The historic Mustang I building was removed from that property after Gilman purchased it from the federal government and relocated it to Wild Horse Canyon.
The current operation nevertheless has substantial physical continuity with the historic ranch. It carries the Mustang Ranch name, incorporates major portions of Mustang I and also absorbed the Wild Horse Ranch operation that preceded it at the current property. Our Nevada Brothel Genealogy page explains the distinction between the historic name, building, business and land in greater detail.
The result is a modern Storey County brothel with a current courtesan lineup, restaurant and bar, themed suites and transportation from Reno, while portions of the property are physically connected to the brothel that helped establish Nevada’s licensed prostitution system more than half a century ago.
Photo credits
Featured image: “Nevada Brothel,” Dreamstime image ID 205577989; © Wirestock / Dreamstime.com.
“Tahoe Reno Industrial Center Between Sparks and Fernley, Nevada,” photo by Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons file page.
“Mustang Ranch Owners (4269594214),” Lance Gilman, Susan Austin and friends at the 2010 AVN Awards; photo by Michael Dorausch / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons file page.
“Virginia City, Nevada (15517817200),” photo by Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons file page.
“Mustang Ranch (8483554992),” Mustang Ranch-themed decoration on an Advance Design Chevrolet pickup photographed at the Early Bird Swap Meet in Puyallup, Washington; photo by John Lloyd / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons file page.