Garden Pass by Bicycle - Velo

If a long rural road in Nevada runs north - south, it generally threads along one of the many basins of Nevada. These basins are bordered by linear fault ranges, that seem to go on forever in the same direction. Along the way, these north south roads sometimes also cross summits. They are about as small as you would expect them to be. This one has a desolate kind of beauty. Garden Pass, crossing between the Roberts Mountains and the Sulphur Spring Range has very little traffic, except maybe if special circumstances, that cause heavy traffic on the outskirts of Eureka. It is interesting to note, that moderately quiet and remote as this road may seem, the roads in the neighboring valleys to the east and west are still more remote and largely unpaved. Those would be Newark Valley Rd and Grass Valley Rd.

1.START-END SOUTH:several miles north of jct Nv278-US50 near Eureka
2.jct with Saddler Brown Rd
3.Pony Express Trail crosses road
4.TOP:Garden Pass,6680ft
5.jct with road to Henderson Pass and Roberts Mountains
6.jct with road to Bailey Pass
7.START-END NORTH:road crosses Hot Creek, before continuing a very shallow decent direction Elko

Approaches

From North. Nv278 heads straight as a ruler up the wide expanse of Diamond Valley, The road reaches a gentle low point just before the junction with a gravel road. It is that gravel road that stays in Diamond Valley for the long haul. Paved Nv278 has a quick change of mind, and with that - direction. It heads for a low gap between the Roberts Mountains and the Sulphur Spring Mountains.

At this point whatever traffic may have been generated by the ranching conglomeration near Eureka has pretty much disappeared, and the road heads straight for its new goal, the snowy crustations of the Roberts Mountains. Nv278 crosses the old Pony Express trail on the lower approach. The location is signed from the road and signs have a few interesting historical explanations at the ready. As the top comes closer the slope gets shallower and the trees become abundant.

From South. (described downwards). It is not until the road begins to descend again from this wide shallow saddle, that a kind of view opens. On a photo you can't even tell that there is a slope involved on this side. It looks just like a plain with complementing rock arches framing the scene on the outside edge of a wide angle view. I think it has a desolate, kind of come-what-may beauty to it. The downhill feels about as expected, slow - but it lasts a long time.