Bonnie Claire Playa
The Bonnie Claire Playa can be found along the Scotty’s Castle Road 11 miles west of US Highway 95. The road to Bonnie Claire Play is paved and provides year around access for most vehicles. Allow 1/2 hour to drive to Bonnie Claire Playa and return to US Highway 95. Plan on more time if you like to stop for photos or stroll around the playa.
During the day, the brilliant surface of Bonnie Claire Playa creates a stunning visual contrast to the adjacent rugged gray facade of the Grapevine Mountains. After dark, the Playa offers a surrealistic opportunity to throw down a blanket, lie back on a solidified, ancient lake and get lost in endless stars. Bonnie Claire Playa would provide a fantastic opportunity view the sunset and watch the stars appear. The Playa is 46 miles from Beatty and 43 miles from Goldfield, plan on a 1 hour drive to reach either destination.
NOTE: There are no restrooms or services in the Bonnie Claire Area. Please help to assure this area remains open for public use by recreating responsibly and following Leave No Trace practices.
Caution: As of 2022, the access to Death Valley is still closed along the Scotty’s Castle Road in Grapevine Canyon-please contact Death Valley National Park for current information about this road. During winter storms, the road may become icy and treacherous. Large thunderstorm events can create life threatening situations an even washout the road entirely in any season, as it did to the road in Grapevine Canyon in October of 2015.
Caution: Playa surfaces are made from dried mud. The top surface drys first and may appear solid while an inch or two below the surface, the mud is liquefied. The weight of a vehicle, especially high clearance 4X4s, can break through the dry surface and become hopelessly bogged down in the mud below. This can create a situation for a very long and expensive vehicle extraction and recovery, in an area with no cell phone coverage.
Gemfield
The Gemfield Backcountry Road Trip provides opportunities for daytime sightseeing and rock hounding, along with a convenient deeply dark area to stargaze less than 5 miles from Goldfield. Allow 3/4 hour to drive up to Gemfield and return to US Highway 95, and more time if you like to stop for photographs, short walks, and/or rockhounding.
The Road to Gemfield begins 2.5 miles north of Goldfield on US Highway 95 at a well-signed exit on the west side of the highway. Follow the road in 2.2 miles to a nice wide area on the left side of the road to park and enjoy the dark skies. To continue to Gemfield, keep driving up the road to 2.6 miles, turn left and drive another 0.8 miles up to the Gemfield site. This is a private claim so please respect the area and do not dig in the ground or collect commercial quantities of rock. Limited dispersed camping is available at this location, however the proximity to the mountains will restrict stargazing to the west and south. A better location to view the stars is to return to the first mentioned viewing area 2.2 miles from US Highway 95. This area is far enough away from the mountains to provide a wide horizon for stargazing.
The area features classic desert formations, beautiful stands of Joshua Trees, and outstanding opportunities for Dark Sky Viewing.
NOTE: There are no restrooms or services in the Gemfield Area. Please help to assure this area remains open for public use by recreating responsibly and following Leave No Trace practices.
Caution: The road to Gemfield is a maintained graded road. This road can become treacherous and impassible during wet, snowy, or stormy conditions, The road is not maintaining during winter storms. This road is suitable for most SUVs.
Lunar Crater Backcountry Byway
The Lunar Crater Backcountry Byway lies about 80 miles east of Tonopah and 88 miles west west of Ely along US Highway 6. The Byway consists of an 18.2 mile dirt road loop south of the US 6 the circles through a fantastic fantastic landscape of volcanic formations. The west and east entrances to this loop are signed at the highway and are 3.5 miles apart. The best maintained portion of the road leaves from the follows the Byway from the west signed entrance south 6.5 miles to Lunar Crater. The remainder of the the Byway (11.7 miles) circles around Lunar Dry Lake and past the Wall Overlook to the east entrance. Especially in the region of Lunar Dry Lake, the road can become treacherous in wet or excessive dry conditions. (See Caution below.) About 2.6 miles south from US 6 from the west entrance, a short 1.3 mile side road will bring visitors to a parking area for a short hiking trail up to view of the interior of Easy Chair Crater. Allow at least one hour to drive the entire loop. Allow for more time if you plan to stop or if the road conditions are difficult.
NOTE: There are no restrooms or services in the area of Lunar Crater Back Country Byway. Please help to assure this area remains open for public use by recreating responsibly and following Leave No Trace practices.
Caution: Much of the road along the Lunar Crater Backcountry Byway has been constructed over silt. When wet in winter or after thunderstorms, this silt becomes a series of mud traps. After long dry periods, vehicle use will soften the silt and can lead to deep potholes in the roads that are filled with dust. These “dust bowls” can be deep enough to trap and/or damage low clearance and 2-wheel drive vehicles.
Blackrock Lava Flow
About 0.7 miles on US 6 west of the east Lunar Crater Backcountry Byway is a short 0.8 mile graded road to the Lava Flow Interpretive site. This road is also signed and is fairly well maintained. At the interpretive site, there is a parking area and a short trail access to the lava flow.
The Black Rock Lava Flow is the youngest volcanic event in Central Nevada and dates back to about 20,000-30,000 years ago. In geological terms, this is very young and the volcanic field is still considered potentially active.
Camp Success Loop
The Camp Success Loop is an approximately 40-mile loop in the mountains just east of Ely. Starting in Steptoe Valley on State Route 486 at either Cave Lake State Park or north of McGill, the loop can be done in either direction. The route climbs high into the Shell Creek Range crossing over Success Summit.
Most of the drive is dirt road that is well maintained for high clearance vehicles. The route should be avoided when wet or snowy. The loop is known for its outstanding scenery and good opportunities to see wildlife. Several Forest Service Campgrounds are accessed from the northside along with the possibility for remote camping throughout the drive. Cave Lake State Park also provides camping opportunities for travelers.
White River Loop
Several different driving loops can be done in the Current Mountain, White River/Ellison Creek area, all very stunning. The loop focused here begins and ends on US-6 between Ely and Tonopah and includes narrow canyons and high mountain vistas. The White River Campground is accessed along the drive with the possibility for remote camping throughout. The drive is through pinyon-juniper terrain within the high mountain landscapes. The route should be avoided when wet or snowy and high clearance vehicles are recommended.
If traveling from Ely, drive approximately 28 miles to a turnoff for the Ellison Guard Station. At this point you will leave the pavement and travel on dirt roads until returning to US-6. Travel northwest on Forest Road 402, through the canyons of Ellison Creek for approximately 15 miles to a junction that changes direction to the southwest. Continue southward (FR-405 to FR-407), making your way down between Current Mountain and Red Mountain approximately 19 miles until reaching US-6.
Know before you go!
Learn everything you need to know to safely travel the Park to Park route.
Nevada is home to some really, REALLY wide open spaces. That means no cell service sometimes and long stretches
of highway with no gas stations, and yep, no restrooms. So please always be prepared for these conditions.
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