Large quantities of beta-SiC nanorods with uniform amorphous SiO2 wrappers were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of silica xerogel pieces with carbon nanoparticles embedded in the network. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared (IR) results confirmed the formation of beta-SiC and SiO2. Low-magnification transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that the nanorods were typically more than 20 mu m in length. High-magnification TEM and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) indicated that the beta-SiC nanorods (with typical diameters of 14 +/- 6 ma) were wrapped in amorphous SiO2 layers (with typical outside diameters of 45 +/- 25 nm).