Skip to main content

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 5; To Las Vegas via Nevada State Route 159

After making my way off of Dante's View my destination for the night was in downtown Las Vegas.  Reaching Las Vegas from Death Valley National Park has a surprisingly large amount of options, my path was on Nevada Route 159.






This blog serves as a continuation from Part 4 of the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip which can be found here.

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 4; Death Valley and Dante's View Road

After leaving Dante's View Road and making it back to CA 190 I took it east to it's terminus at CA 127 in Death Valley Junction.



CA 127 intersects State Line Road in Death Valley Junction.





I took State Line Road east to the Nevada State Line where I entered Nye County.  On the Nevada side State Line Road had recently been repaved, when I last visited in 2012 it was in really bad shape.  Eventually I made my way to Pahrump and joined NV 160 east towards Las Vegas.





The Clark County Line isn't too far east of Pahrump on NV 160.





NV 160 climbs eastward over the 5,502 foot Mountain Springs Pass before descending into Las Vegas Valley.  Near Blue Diamond NV 160 meets the western terminus of NV 159.


NV 159 is an approximately 31 mile state highway completely contained within Clark County.  NV 159 is largely an east/west route but has a large north/south jog from NV 160.  From NV 160 the routing of NV 159 follows Blue Diamond Road and Red Rock Canyon Road to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area where it intersects the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop Drive.





Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area was established in 1967 and has become a highly popular hiking destination for the Las Vegas Valley.  The Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop is 13 miles long, the high point of the Conservation Area is La Madre Mountain at 8,154 feet above sea level.





As NV 159 enters Las Vegas it becomes Charleston Boulevard and far as I could tell was unsigned.  On the outskirts of Las Vegas NV 159 intersects Clark County Route 215 which serves as a continuation of I-215.





NV 159 intersects I-15 near Las Vegas Boulevard and downtown.





From NV 159/Charleston Boulevard east of I-15 I turned south on Main Street in downtown Las Vegas to reach Las Vegas Boulevard and the Stratosphere.  NV 159 actually continues east of downtown where it intersects I-515/US 93/95.  NV 159 continues east to the city limits of Las Vegas where it terminates at NV 612 at Nellis Boulevard.

Before the 1970s Nevada State Highway Renumbering NV 159 was part of NV 85.  The State Highway grid as it was prior to the State Highway Renumbering can be seen on the this 1956 Nevada State Highway Map.

1956 State Highway Map 

Part 6 of the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Series can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 6; The Stratosphere

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Patterson Pass Road

Recently on a day trip to the San Francisco Bay Area I traversed the Diablo Range eastbound via Patterson Pass Road. Patterson Pass Road is an approximately 13 mile roadway which starts at Mines Road in Livermore of Alameda County.  Patterson Pass Road eastward ascends over the approximately 1,600 foot namesake Patterson Pass into San Joaquin County where it ends at Interstate 580 near Tracy.  Patterson Pass Road has an infamous reputation as being a dangerous roadway due to the lengthy one-lane section and heavy rush-hour commute traffic. Patterson Pass is one of the earliest documented European paths of travel over the Diablo Range as it was explored during the 1775-1776 Spanish Expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza.  The 1775-1776 Spanish expedition charted out much of San Francisco Bay which led to the founding of the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis.  Patterson Pass Road between Cross Road east to Midway Road is part of the Juan Bautista de Anza

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held