Black Rock City, Nevada is an ephemeral town that exists for only one week each year, during Burning Man, a radical gathering experience. At its maximum occupancy, the town has about 60,000 citizens and a post office, an emergency services crew, a volunteer police department, roads, houses, bars, clubs, restaurants, and hundreds of art installations and participatory "theme camps". After a week, the city is completely disassembled – much of it burned – leaving the stark, white desert exactly as bare as it had been when the event started.

Black Rock City is in the remote Black Rock Desert about 2-3 hours north of Reno, Nevada. Most travellers arrive by car, bus, truck, RV, or other motor conveyance. From Reno, take Interstate 80 east to exit 43 (Wadworth), then highway 447 north about 100 miles to Gerlach. Head east (right) at the fork in the road north of Gerlach, and exit onto the Black Rock Desert after about 11 miles (signs should be posted). The event requires all participants to hold tickets. Tickets are NOT available at the gate, they must be purchased in advance prior to arrival. Tickets run about $440-1500. Less expensive tickets are also made available through their Low Income program. For more information on acquiring tickets, look on the Burning Man website.

Attendees from locations too far away from driving usually fly to Reno or San Francisco and either rent cars or other vehicles there, or hook up with locals for rides. Rideshare boards are available on the Burning Man Web site. There are special air shuttles offered this year through Advantage Flight Solutions from Reno and the Bay Area directly to the Black Rock desert for a reasonable price.

The Green Tortoise Bus Company runs a few bus tours from San Francisco to Black Rock City during the event; food, shelter, and transportation are all provided in the tour package.

The Burner Express is a bus service offered by Burning Man to transport Burners from San Francisco and Reno to Black Rock City and back. Riding the Burner Express offers faster arrival, speedier entrance, reserved camping, and expedited departures. You can purchase one way (to or from BRC) or round trip tickets with add-ons for extra cargo and bikes. There are several departures a day from the Reno Airport and up to two a day from the Civic Center in San Francisco beginning the Saturday before the event and continuing throughout the week.

Black Rock City creates its own airport (88NV) for small private planes, run by volunteers. The field is a (very hard-packed) dry lake; most flying clubs do not allow non-emergency landings by rental planes on dirt fields. Mountainous desert regions are extremely dangerous for inexperienced and experienced pilots alike, and it's not recommended to fly into this airport unless you are experienced with desert flying.