California Sunset from Vegas
Nevada State Route 160 crosses the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas, USA, at Mountain Springs Summit, about 1,675 metres up, on a line travellers have followed for nearly two centuries. In January 1830 the trader Antonio Armijo found this pass on the first journey along the Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles, and its springs and meadows became one of the favourite camps on the route; John C. Frémont's expedition of 1844 made it famous, and this section is still known as Frémont's Cutoff. The Spring Mountains rise to 3,632 metres at Mount Charleston, the highest peak in Clark County, and their red sandstone cliffs at Red Rock Canyon, on the Las Vegas side, are a favourite with local cyclists.
This ride descends the western side of the pass into the Pahrump Valley, a desert basin about 65 km long, ringed by the Spring Mountains, the Kingston Range and, across the California line, the Nopah Range, behind which the sun sets at the end of this evening ride. The ride stays in Nevada the whole way. The highway itself was completed in the mid-1950s and widened over the summit in the late 2010s, and in November 2017 a closed section of it between Las Vegas and Pahrump was the scene of a production-car world speed record, when a Koenigsegg Agera RS averaged 447 km/h over two runs. With no climbing at all and a gentle, steady gradient, it makes an ideal recovery ride.
Region: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Distance: 25.82 km
Elevation Gain: 1 m
Elevation Loss: 659 m
Difficulty: 78 (Easy)
FIETS Index: 0.1 FIETS
Avg Grade: 0.1 %
Max cat climb: 5
Min elevation: 1014 m
Max elevation: 1672 m
Ride Category: Flat