It's easy to miss Bonnie Springs Ranch. A wooden sign stands along Blue Diamond Road as a gateway into the 15-acre property. Those who turn into the driveway discover an old mining town, a saloon, shops, a restaurant and a petting zoo with too many animals to count.

Visitors of the ranch, tucked near the hills 20 miles west of Las Vegas at 1 Gunfighter Lane, say they can sense a unique character behind it. It takes a special person to think up such a place.