Nerve racking roads

[clikrf8]

I don't know if this belongs here or in trip planning or trip reports. Please feel free to move it.

A short list:
One lane rough winding road to Delamar, a ghost town in Nevada. Sheer drop off on one side, a blocking wall of rocks and dirt on the other, one or two places to turn around, rocky and a bit off camber in places. This is the only road where I got out and walked.

The long drive to Silver City from the Idaho side. Popular with the OHV crowd who were hauling on trailers. They were well behaved and yielded when they could. Lots of blind corners. Rough in some places.

191 southbound to Vernal, Utah. Many steep grade switchbacks and double belly haulers in a big hurry

Road to McGee Canyon in the Eastern Sierra. Blind corners and drop offs

Valley of the Gods, Utah: blind corners, blind hills, white knocked mini van drivers who don't know the rules of off road courtesies

Have yet to try the Burr Trail Road switchbacks or the Moki Dugway

Ok, your turn.

 

[lqhikers]

highway 1 Oregon,calif when traveling south on a bicycle .

Les,lqhikers

 

[Bill D]

Pics or it didn't happen

 

[Foy]

Skalkaho Highway (MT-38) between Skalkaho Falls and Skalkaho Pass, east of Hamilton, MT in the Sapphire Range. Eastbounders have a no-guardrail drop-off which reaches 800 to 1,000'. The "highway" itself is graded gravel, reasonably wide, but hosts an alarming number of log trucks, which by necessity take their half of the roadway out of the middle. Very unnerving to be plodding along at tourist speed with the windows down, hear their Jake Brakes in the distance but getting closer and closer. Tuning in on CB, one can hear them calling their progress to other truckers, so either that or the approaching Jake Brake is the signal to find a wide spot and move over. If that happens to be on the right side for eastbounders, the wife riding shotgun may not speak to you for a while.

Foy

 

[Smokecreek1]

There are so many out there, but to me it isn't so much whether it is rough and/or dangerous or not, but whether you are surprised by it and not ready for the fun. The most human unfriendly road I ever drove (and I have driven way to many of them) was Franks Road (near/on the High Rock NCA in Nevada) from Indian Springs down to and past Yellow Rock Canyon; it sort of followed south side of High Rock Canyon to the east. Granny gear all the way , boulders everywhere, me thinks it started out life a fire road and was never improved. One trip was enough ! A close second is one that is on most maps and follows the rail road tracks down the east side of the Smoke Creek Desert from south of Gerlach to the south end of the desert where it intersects with the back road to Pyramid Lake-most of it is one Indian land.. Both of these are unfit for human use. Lot's of "roads" like these in the back country, but they were part of the job and we had to drive them; they had to be real bad to remembered as especially bad !

A real surprise road (if you are not ready for it) is the east end of California State HW 36 from Red Bluff west to US 101. It's marked on the map as paved and you figure it's a good road. The real problems start on the west end, where it climbs up that last bit of the interior coast range and in the middle of one of those last steep uphill hairpin bends suddenly goes into a very skinny less than one lane road from a very skinny two lane road. First gear all the way! Great place to meet an large RV or lumber truck and not enough room for both and few warning signs. Driving west into the sun-oh boy-what fun The road is great for a nice motor cycle trip with neat places to see and visit, but can be real hard for an rv or stick shift (years ago my old dog got car sick from all the back to back curves). In a way it sort of reminds me of the short cut I once took on Or 42S from Coquille to Brandon, only with more hair pin curves and steep hills that all needed needed first gear-hey I was not expecting how skinny it was and it caught me by surprise. To me these are the worst types of roads that sort of wake you up real fast-like when that first lumber truck dang near knocks you off the road .They make life interesting right? Another one of those short cuts from Hell we all have experienced !

Smoke

 

[idahoron]

The road to Jarbidge NV from Idaho is not bad but is full of ATV's and people that should not have licences. The Steep, and this is where this picture was taken.

 

[Bad Habit]

Valley of the Gods, Utah: blind corners, blind hills, white knocked mini van drivers who don't know the rules of off road courtesies

Have yet to try the Burr Trail Road switchbacks or the Moki Dugway

We didn't find the Valley of the Gods road that bad but we only saw 2 other vehicles go by the 2 days we were there.

The Moki Dugway is definitely invigorating

 

[rotti]

This "road" will definitely get your attention.
If your not a fan of shelf roads and 1,000' drop offs next to steep! descents stay away.
But scenery is off the charts....Webster Pass, Redcone and Radical Hill Colorado.

The following links contain more info and much better images than mine:
http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/672-red-cone-usa.html
http://www.traildamage.com/trails/?id=9

The trail goes over the summit of Redcone just behind the truck.

Off of Redcone and down onto Webster Pass road.

 

[Foy]

The road to Jarbidge NV from Idaho is not bad but is full of ATV's and people that should not have licences. The Steep, and this is where this picture was taken.

idahoron,

Would this be the grade down Deer Creek Rd just before it gets down to the Jarbidge River north of town? If so, this would be on the road over the mountains from Rowland, just inside NV from ID (coming down from Grasmere?) along the Bruneau River, correct? Or is it instead along the main road through Three Creeks & Murphy Hot Springs from Rogerson, ID?

If you've traveled some through there, I would enjoy and appreciate any opportunities to bounce a few questions off of you by PM or email. We're thinking of a big NV traverse for summer 2016.

Foy

 

[idahoron]

Foy I have been on all the roads you're talking about. This road is the one straight south of Jarbidge, It goes to Elko it is called NF 062. I would be glad to help you with any questions you have about the area. I go there many times a year.

 

[Foy]

Thanks idahoron!

I'll PM you.

Foy