Skip to main content

Throwback Thursday; US 70 White Sands Missile Range

This week I look back at a section of US 70 I used to travel with great frequency for work in 2011 in 2012; the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico in the Chihuahuan Desert.






The White Sands Missile Range is a large tract of land within the Tularosa Basin which occupies parts of five counties.  The White Sands Range is the largest military base in the United States at approximately 3,200 square miles.  The Range is mostly known for being the location of the Trinity Test which was the first detonation of a nuclear device back in July of 1945.  The actual location of the Trinity Test is located in the north extent of the Range somewhat close to US 380 and San Antonio.

Travel in the White Sands Range can be difficult if you aren't aware of winter closures or missile tests.  Usually I would have to call the Missile Control phone line to find out if there were any closures along US 70, 54, and 380.  Generally US 70 was the only highway affected and was the one I traveled on the most on the way to Alamogordo and Ruidoso.  US 70 east of Las Cruces as far back as I can remember it was more or less an adhoc freeway (seriously it probably is one of the worst freeway designs I've ever come across) from I-25 to the town of Organ.  US 70 remained an expressway over Organ Pass becoming a very fast 70 MPH expressway through the White Sands Missile Range to Alamogordo.  Aside from the missiles the only other obstruction along US 70 was a Border Patrol checkpoint and Holloman Air Force Base.

On days where I was delayed by the Missile tests I would generally stop to watch the tests at the Aguirre Springs Campground below the peaks of the Organ Mountains.  The Organ Needle is the high peak in the Organ Mountains at 8,982 feet above sea level.  The Organ Mountains are named as such due the resemblance to the musical instrument.  The Aguirre Springs Campground was included in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument when it was created in 2014.


The main attraction to US 70 crossing through the White Sands Missile Range is the White Sands National Monument.  White Sands National Monument comprises the largest gypsum sand dunes in the world at approximately 275 square miles.  The gypsum is deposited in the Tularosa Basin from the San Andreas and Sacramento Mountains.  The Tularosa Basin itself has no outlet which essentially means that White Sands National Monument is a giant dry lake.  Lake Lucero on the southwest side of White Sands National Monument is basically the remains of a much larger lake which I believed is called Lake Otero?

White Sands National Monument was created in 1933 but didn't receive services from the Park Service for several years.  The Monument to this very day is generally day use only and access is essentially at the whim of Missile Tests at the nearby White Sands Missile Ranges.  The gypsum actually is surprisingly nice in the summer time and made for some fun sledding trips on the way to work sites.






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

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

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w