Skip to main content

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 7; Former Nevada State Route 40 on Valley of Fire Highway and Valley of Fire State Park

By
Following spending a night at The Stratosphere I headed north on I-15 the following morning to Valley of Fire Highway which was once part of Nevada State Route 40.






This blog entry is the 7th in the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Series, Part 6 can be found here:

2016 Mountain Trip Part 6; Las Vegas from the Stratosphere

Valley of Fire Highway is an approximately 18.6 mile route connecting I-15 east through Valley of Fire State Park to NV 169.  Valley of Fire Highway was originally designated NV 40 and first appears on the 1935 Nevada State Highway Map.

1935 State Highway Map

During the 1976 Nevada State Highway renumbering NV 40 and NV 12 were combined into the new NV 169.  Ultimately it seems NV 169 was never applied in the field to Valley of Fire Highway and the route appears without a designation first on the 1982 State Highway Map.

1982 State Highway Map

From I-15 Valley of Fire Highway begins at exit 75.


Valley of Fire Road heads directly east towards the Muddy Mountains.





The Muddy Mountains largely consist of sand stone ridges.  As Valley of Fire Highway approaches the Muddy Mountains it descends a sweeping grade east through a canyon.






At the boundary of Valley of Fire State Park the routing of Valley of Fire Highway is signed as a Nevada Scenic Byway.






Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada's oldest State Park having been created in 1935 along with the NV 40 designation.  Valley of Fire State Park largely consists of Aztec Sandstone formations endemic to the Muddy Mountains.  The sandstone formations were formed from shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago.  Valley of Fire State Park is a popular hiking destination for Las Vegas Valley and was most notably featured as a set piece in the original Total Recall.





Probably the best road side views of Valley of Fire State Park are located just off of Valley of Fire Highway on Mouse Tank Road.







Emerging through the Muddy Mountains on Valley of Fire Highway the Lake Mead Recreation Area can be seen to the eastbound the sandstone bluffs.





Leaving the Scenic Byway portion of Valley of Fire Highway I encountered a Bighorn Sheep.  I would shortly find myself at the Lake Mead Recreation Area near Old St. Thomas Road which was part of NV 12.


Part 8 of this blog series can be found here:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 8; Former Nevada State Route 12 on Old St. Thomas Road

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more