< Left Panel   Nevada Summits and Passes   Areas   Tables   Maps   All Favorites   Main Panel:   Main Page   Map+Profile   Nevada Map

1.START-END NORTH:jct large, unsigned gravel road - I95, south end of Beatty 2.profile turns right onto smaller gravel road, just before unsgined summit 3. TOP: Secret Pass; 4940ft, turnoff to Microwave facility is just before 4.end of streambed section in Tarantula Canyon. Profile turns right 5.start of wide gravel road at mine site 6.START-END SOUTH:jct I95 - unsgined gravel road

Approaches

From West. For days I had been following dotted lines on my deLorme Gazeteer Atlas, looking for scenic climbs. Invariably I would find myself walking the bike in an arroyo with coarse gravel so deep, my bike felt like a boat. Imagine my surprise, when today I was following another dotted line, and it turned out to be a road perfect for gravel biking. Actually much of it was hard medalled surface, so even a road bike would be fine. This first part is also an access road for a commercially active mine. Twice trucks stopped and warned me about the heavy traffic ahead. But I don't consider 5 vehicles in the space of an hour that bad.

This road climbs straight as an arrow above the muddled geologic strata engulfing Beatty. As already mentioned, the surface is kept well maintained, even if turnoffs are a bit of a mystery. But staying on the main road and just climbing works - until the road reaches a crest. Here it's time to leave the smooth conditions and head direction microwave tower to the south. The pass is immediately below the tower. The short out and back to the microwave tower has so many great views, it gets its own slide show.

Slideshow of approaches to the 2 way summit

From East. (described downwards) Unfortunately, comfortable things rarely last long. The surface takes on a more rocky character as the now narrow jeep road descends between two large portal rocks. They look like the site on a shot gun. A little further down comes the worst part of this loop starts, yet another long deep gravel arroyo. It necessitates walking the boat. There is an alternative nearby route to the east, that stays out of the streambed. I missed it. But this would appear to be the better choice. It eventually joins back to the main streambed. But from that point the walking section is quite short.

Heading right at the next junction quickly leads quickly to a traverse on the alluvial fan, with steadily improving biking conditions. The strange straight-as-a-ruler geology across the valley is already part of the Nellis Airforce Range. As evidence, the sky contains a few wildly curving jet streams. Suddenly the bike starts rolling faster all on its own. After some miles the road meets up with a service road for a large well of some sort. The road is now wide, but still quite rocky. After a second service road to another well takes over, the conditions become perfect for cycling again, a smooth hard surface perfect for laying down miles, I95 moves ever closer. A last gap between it and the road is labeled as Steve's Pass on maps. It does not contain the required 500ft of elevation gain on each side, in order for me to count it . Actually, it doesn't even contain a 100ft climb.

The one way summit to the Lookout