Panamint Valley Road is 13.9 mile long rural Inyo County highway spanning from California State Route 190 south to the intersection of Trona-Wildrose Road and Wildrose Road. The corridor was originally part of a trail which connected the community of Darwin east to Wildrose Station. Modern Panamint Valley Road was constructed during the late 1920s to facilitate travel between the Eichbalm Toll Road and Trona-Wildrose Road.
Part 1; the history of Panamint Valley Road
The history of Panamint Valley Road is tied to that of the Eichbalm Toll Road. Prior to the Eichbalm Toll Road traffic wishing to access Death Valley from the Darwin area had to use Emigrant Canyon. A trail existed east of Darwin which crossed the Argus Mountains near the Modoc Mine through northern Panamint Valley. Travelers would continue through Emigrant Canyon passing the Harrisburg Mine to reach Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley.
The trail from Darwin through the Argus Mountains to Panamint Valley can be seen on the 1913 United States Geological Survey map of Ballarat. The Modoc Mine had been staked near Lookout Mountain in 1875. Nearby Darwin had been settled in 1874 around silver and lead claims.
H.W. Eichbalm was granted one of the last Franchise Toll Road rights issued in California circa 1926 to construct a roadway from Darwin to Stovepipe Wells. Eichbalm had begun construction of a hotel at Stovepipe Wells the year prior to take advantage of the anticipated increase of access to Death Valley. The Eichbalm Toll Road passed through the Argus Mountains east of Darwin to Panamint Springs taking advantage of the already established trail. The road continued east through northern Panamint Valley to the grades of what is now Towne Pass.
What is now Panamint Valley Road was constructed during the late 1920s to connect Trona-Wildrose Road to the Eichbalm Toll Road. The roadway grade was essentially overlaid atop the trail in Panamint Valley which connected the Modoc Mine to Dawin. In 1933 Death Valley would be declared a National Monument which saw the profile of the area rise for tourism interests.
Panamint Valley Road can be seen spanning from the Eichbalm Toll Road south to Trona-Wildrose Road on the 1935 Division of Highways of Inyo County map. The Division of Highways would purchase the Eichbalm Toll Road in 1935 and incorporate it as part of early California State Route 190 (Legislative Route Number 127).
A new alignment of California State Route 190 was dedicated on October 31, 1937. The new alignment (called the Lone Pine-Death Valley Highway) bypassed Darwin in favor of a grade through the Argus Mountains to the north that connected directly to Panamint Springs. The realignment of California State Route 190 didn't affect Panamint Valley Road directly but enhanced the utility of the corridor as an easy way to turn south towards Trona and Searles Valley.
Part 2; a drive on Panamint Valley Road
Southbound Panamint Valley Road begins at California State Route 190 in northern Panamint Valley. Trona is signed as being 44 miles away whereas Ridgecrest is signed as 66 miles.
Panamint Valley Road continues 13.9 miles south through the namesake valley to a terminus located at the intersection of Trona-Wildrose Road and Wildrose Road. The roadway is partially within the boundary of Death Valley National Park and faces towards the Panamint Mountains. Panamint Valley is a basin which was once part of the Pleistocene lake system which once dominated the Mojave Desert region and emptied into Death Valley.
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