Amargosa Valley, Nevada
Encyclopedia
Amargosa Valley is an unincorporated community
in Nye County
, in the U.S. state of Nevada
.
which flows through the valley from its origination in Nevada
to its terminus in Death Valley
, California
. Like most desert
rivers, the 200 miles (321.9 km) long Amargosa flows on the surface only when rare rainfalls flood the desert washes, except for a 20 miles (32.2 km) segment near Shoshone, California
, where the river flows perennially. The name Amargosa Valley
is used locally with reference to the actual geographic valley, although for the most part, it is coincident with the Amargosa Desert
and is noted as such on many maps.
The populated area of the Amargosa Desert is sandwiched between U.S. 95 to the north, and the California border to the south. Some of the residential streets in the community cross over into California. Much of the Nevada-California border in this area is contiguous with the boundaries of Death Valley National Park
. The national park boundary extends into Nevada
near Beatty
, approximately 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Amargosa Valley. Amargosa Valley is located approximately 88 miles (142 km) northwest of Las Vegas, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Pahrump
, and 24 miles (39 km) north of Death Valley Junction, California
.
occupied the Amargosa Valley: the Southern Paiute
and the Western Shoshone
. Both were extremely adept at extracting a living from their marginal environment, subsisting on wild plant foods and supplemented by wild game.
Spanish, Indians, and mountain men first blazed a trail through the Amargosa Valley by 1800.
After the Donner Party's disastrous winter of 1847 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which happened just before the news of California gold became public, a loose group arrived in October 1849 at the Great Salt Lake. They organized under the guidance of a Captain Hunt to head for the San Bernardino–Los Angeles area. The best alternative to risking the Donner route was to try an end run to the south of the Sierras. The Old Spanish Trail had long been used by Indians, traders, explorers, and mountain men as a convenient but rough route, confined to horseback and pack animals, to California. It ran north from Santa Fe to the Salt Lake area then back south along the edge of the mountains to San Diego, and had been used ever since the days of Cabeza De Vaca's journey through the country.
Leaving the Salt Lake area, they were overtaken by another party led by a guide named Captain Smith. He assured them that a more direct route across the southern deserts existed which was quite passable for wagons and showed them a copy of John C. Fremont's map of his explorations. The map had a large portion, then known as "The Great American Desert", left blank with the word "unexplored" across it. On this Smith's friend Barney Ward had drawn in a trail which showed plenty of graze for the animals, and adequate water for all with a description of the clear cool waters of Owens river and Lake Owens. The route would take them north and west of the then unknown Death Valley. Then, over Walker's Pass into California. Unfortunately, this map showed a fictitious mountain range, north of the Old Spanish Trail to Los Angeles and running roughly east-west across central Nevada, and it may have been this non-existent mountain range that contributed to the emigrant's decision to chance leaving the established trail, under the assumption that water, and grass for the oxen, would be easier to locate along the base of the mountains. In later times, the exploration and mapping of Nevada would show that all of the mountain ranges in central Nevada run north-south, directly across the path the Bennett-Arcane Party took.
The party was led by William L. Manly
, Rev. James Brier, and Asabel Bennett, all experienced outdoorsmen and farmers out of the Wisconsin farm country who decided to risk it on the assurances that Smith, with the map, would accompany them. Hunt objected, but agreed to stay on as long as he was needed. Soon after their leaving Salt Lake, Smith's group split off as did their guide Hunt as the country got really rough for wagon passage with the main group of less adventurous emigrants and the map. Smith and Hunt both arrived with their parties in San Bernardino after tough but quick journeys around Death Valley. Manly, Brier, and Bennett led straight on into the Amargaso desert. They were followed by another small group, the Wade family party who stayed back one day. Not having to scout or break trail, the Wades had an easy journey compared to the others.
After leaving Ash Meadows, they drove over the Amargosa range, and down into Death Valley through Furnace Creek Wash where they were quickly bogged down on the valley floor. Many of their oxen had died from lack of forage and they were immobilized, as the few remaining animals were starving and were too weak to pull wagons up and over the mountains to the west and south, even if a pass were found. The Wades, not so bad off, quickly turned south and drove themselves out of the valley and on to safety, probably via Wingate Wash. The Manley, Brier, & Bennett party sent Manley and a companion, John Haney Rogers
, south out of the valley for help. The Briers made a heroic climb over the Panamints to safety, while the Bennetts waited huddled around their wagons with water but no food. Four weeks later, after an incredible 500 mile round-trip trek across the Mojave Desert to Rancho San Francisco (approx. 30 miles north of Los Angeles), Manly & Rogers returned with some food supplies and a single mule (three other horses had died on the return trip), and the Bennett and Arcane families walked and rode their remaining oxen out of what they named, "Death Valley".
There appears to have been only one death among the '49er emigrants within Death Valley itself, a Capt. Culverwell. Two weeks before the return of Manly and Rogers, a small group had attempted to walk out to the southwest, and Capt. Culverwell, a middle-aged man, was unable to keep up with the younger, stronger men and had turned back to re-join the Bennett/Arcane party. He never made it, and succumbed to dehydration. His body was found by Manly & Rogers only a couple of miles short of the Bennett camp on their return trek from Rancho San Francisco. Two members of another group of emigrants, the Jayhawkers, who had been traveling with the Bennett/Arcane Party, died along the trail west of the Panamint Range; their names are given in Manly's journal as Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham.
Interestingly, the granddaughter of Chief Winnamucca of the Piutes later wrote that the Indians at the time knew of both the Donner and Death Valley emigrant parties disasters and could easily have saved them. But they considered the whites to be a cruel and a mean people.
While the main motivation of the emigrants was to join the California gold rush, the 1849 rush wasn't nearly as profitable as the later silver
rush of the Comstock Lode in Nevada.
Death Valley's true treasure was its borax
and its natural beauty.
The first community in the Amargosa Desert was founded circa 1905 as the result of extensive borax mining in the area. In 1907, two railroads started to service the borax, gold
, silver, lead
and other important mineral mining and processing operations in the surrounding region. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
(T and T) ran between Ludlow, California
and Gold Center (just south of present-day Beatty
), Nevada
. The competing Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
line linked Las Vegas to Goldfield, Nevada
. As mining yields and economics changed, the railroads became less viable. The Las Vegas and Tonopah line was abandoned in 1918, and the T and T was shut down on June 14, 1940. By mid-1942, all of the T and T's rails and scrap iron had been salvaged by the U.S. Department of War
in support of World War II
. Only sections of the graded railroad bed remain; the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) constructs and maintains hiking trails along some portions of the old railroad bed in California
.
Modern development did not begin in the valley until the early 1950s. Electric power, other than that produced by private generators, was not available until 1963. Until the early 1990s growth in Amargosa Valley was minimal. More recently, intense growth in Las Vegas has led many new residents to settle in Amargosa Valley and nearby Pahrump
. Amargosa Valley is served by the 775 area code, and most landline phone numbers in the area utilize the 372 exchange, following the format (775) 372-xxxx. The ZIP code
is 89020.
Amargosa Valley is near the controversial Yucca Mountain Repository, a U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) facility on federal land, designed for the storage of high-level nuclear waste. President George W. Bush
signed House Joint Resolution 87 on July 23, 2002, authorizing the DOE to proceed with construction at Yucca Mountain
, although the facility was not expected to accept its first shipments of radioactive materials
before 2012. The facility's main entrance will be in Amargosa Valley, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of the storage tunnels. In 2009 President Barack Obama
stated that the repository was no longer being considered as a site for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.
s resulted in 2009 when Solar Millennium
, a German company, announced plans to build a solar thermal plant
in the Amargosa Valley
that would require 20 percent of the water available in the area.
, with flat expanses of sandy soil punctuated by rocky mounds and hills. Predominant indigenous vegetation is White Bursage and Creosote Bush
, with some Joshua Trees and Cacti
at higher elevations. Numerous non-native plant species have also been introduced.
and Reno
, and State Route 373
, which runs east-west connecting Amargosa Valley to Death Valley Junction
via California State Route 127
.
features approximately 23,000 acres (93 km²) of spring-fed wetlands and is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
. The refuge provides habitat for at least 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four fish (Devil's Hole Pupfish
, Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish, Warm Springs Pupfish, and Ash Meadows Speckled Dace), one insect (Ash Meadows Naucorid), and one plant (Amargosa Nitewort) are currently listed as endangered species
. Ash Meadows NWR
can be accessed via SR 373 in Amargosa Valley, SR 160 near Crystal, Nevada
or from Bell Vista Road west of Pahrump
. Entrances to the refuge are marked with road signs.
Big Dune is a formation of sand dunes, cresting approximately 300 feet (91.4 m) above surrounding terrain. The dune formation and surrounding land is administered by the BLM and is open to motorized and non-motorized recreational uses. Big Dune is accessible from Valley View Road, approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) south of U.S. 95.
Cherry Patch Ranch II is one of Nevada's legal brothels
. It is located near the corner of U.S. 95 and SR 373. Longstreet Hotel, Casino, and RV Resort
is a full-service hotel and casino with restaurants and a RV
park. The hotel is located on SR 373, near the Nevada–California border. The hotel is popular with visitors to nearby Death Valley National Park
.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Nye County
Nye County, Nevada
-National protected areas:* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Death Valley National Park * Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest * Spring Mountains National Recreation Area -Demographics:...
, in the U.S. state of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
Description
The community is named for the Amargosa RiverAmargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into...
which flows through the valley from its origination in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
to its terminus in Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Like most desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
rivers, the 200 miles (321.9 km) long Amargosa flows on the surface only when rare rainfalls flood the desert washes, except for a 20 miles (32.2 km) segment near Shoshone, California
Shoshone, California
Shoshone is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. Shoshone is located on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad east of Epaulet Peak, at an elevation of 1585 feet . The population was 31 at the 2010 census, down from 52 at the 2000 census.The town was founded in 1910...
, where the river flows perennially. The name Amargosa Valley
Amargosa Valley
The Amargosa Valley is a Nevada landform east of the Amargosa Range that is the eponym for the town of Amargosa Valley, Nevada. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ran through the valley from 1906 to 1940.-Solar thermal plant:...
is used locally with reference to the actual geographic valley, although for the most part, it is coincident with the Amargosa Desert
Amargosa Desert
The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border. It is largely coincident with the geographic Amargosa Valley....
and is noted as such on many maps.
The populated area of the Amargosa Desert is sandwiched between U.S. 95 to the north, and the California border to the south. Some of the residential streets in the community cross over into California. Much of the Nevada-California border in this area is contiguous with the boundaries of Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
. The national park boundary extends into Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
near Beatty
Beatty, Nevada
Beatty is a census-designated place along the Amargosa River in Nye County in the U.S. state of Nevada. U.S. Route 95 runs through the CDP, which lies between Tonopah, about to the north, and Las Vegas, about to the southeast. State Route 374 connects Beatty to Death Valley National Park, about ...
, approximately 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Amargosa Valley. Amargosa Valley is located approximately 88 miles (142 km) northwest of Las Vegas, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Pahrump
Pahrump, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,631 people, 10,153 households, and 7,127 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 82.7 people per square mile . There were 11,651 housing units at an average density of 39.1 per square mile...
, and 24 miles (39 km) north of Death Valley Junction, California
Death Valley Junction, California
Death Valley Junction is a tiny Mojave Desert community in unincorporated Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, just east of Death Valley National Park. The zip code is 92328, the elevation is , and the population fewer than 20. The city limits sign reports a...
.
History
It is not known when the first humans settled in the Amargosa Desert. Ancient campsites have been found that date back at least 10,000 years, to the end of the last ice age. Recent examination of archaeological remains in the valley implies more extensive use by aboriginal peoples than had been previously estimated. Pottery and other artifacts have been found that date back from approximately 1000 A.D. to even earlier times. During the nineteenth century, two groups of Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
occupied the Amargosa Valley: the Southern Paiute
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
and the Western Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
. Both were extremely adept at extracting a living from their marginal environment, subsisting on wild plant foods and supplemented by wild game.
Spanish, Indians, and mountain men first blazed a trail through the Amargosa Valley by 1800.
After the Donner Party's disastrous winter of 1847 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which happened just before the news of California gold became public, a loose group arrived in October 1849 at the Great Salt Lake. They organized under the guidance of a Captain Hunt to head for the San Bernardino–Los Angeles area. The best alternative to risking the Donner route was to try an end run to the south of the Sierras. The Old Spanish Trail had long been used by Indians, traders, explorers, and mountain men as a convenient but rough route, confined to horseback and pack animals, to California. It ran north from Santa Fe to the Salt Lake area then back south along the edge of the mountains to San Diego, and had been used ever since the days of Cabeza De Vaca's journey through the country.
Leaving the Salt Lake area, they were overtaken by another party led by a guide named Captain Smith. He assured them that a more direct route across the southern deserts existed which was quite passable for wagons and showed them a copy of John C. Fremont's map of his explorations. The map had a large portion, then known as "The Great American Desert", left blank with the word "unexplored" across it. On this Smith's friend Barney Ward had drawn in a trail which showed plenty of graze for the animals, and adequate water for all with a description of the clear cool waters of Owens river and Lake Owens. The route would take them north and west of the then unknown Death Valley. Then, over Walker's Pass into California. Unfortunately, this map showed a fictitious mountain range, north of the Old Spanish Trail to Los Angeles and running roughly east-west across central Nevada, and it may have been this non-existent mountain range that contributed to the emigrant's decision to chance leaving the established trail, under the assumption that water, and grass for the oxen, would be easier to locate along the base of the mountains. In later times, the exploration and mapping of Nevada would show that all of the mountain ranges in central Nevada run north-south, directly across the path the Bennett-Arcane Party took.
The party was led by William L. Manly
William L. Manly
William Lewis Manly was an American pioneer of the mid-nineteenth century. He was first a fur hunter, a guide of Westward bound caravans, a seeker of gold, then a farmer and writer in his later years...
, Rev. James Brier, and Asabel Bennett, all experienced outdoorsmen and farmers out of the Wisconsin farm country who decided to risk it on the assurances that Smith, with the map, would accompany them. Hunt objected, but agreed to stay on as long as he was needed. Soon after their leaving Salt Lake, Smith's group split off as did their guide Hunt as the country got really rough for wagon passage with the main group of less adventurous emigrants and the map. Smith and Hunt both arrived with their parties in San Bernardino after tough but quick journeys around Death Valley. Manly, Brier, and Bennett led straight on into the Amargaso desert. They were followed by another small group, the Wade family party who stayed back one day. Not having to scout or break trail, the Wades had an easy journey compared to the others.
After leaving Ash Meadows, they drove over the Amargosa range, and down into Death Valley through Furnace Creek Wash where they were quickly bogged down on the valley floor. Many of their oxen had died from lack of forage and they were immobilized, as the few remaining animals were starving and were too weak to pull wagons up and over the mountains to the west and south, even if a pass were found. The Wades, not so bad off, quickly turned south and drove themselves out of the valley and on to safety, probably via Wingate Wash. The Manley, Brier, & Bennett party sent Manley and a companion, John Haney Rogers
John Haney Rogers
John Haney Rogers, born 1822 in Tennessee, died December 27, 1906 Merced, California, was a pioneer of the California Gold Rush, and was one of the first known group of European-Americans to travel through Death Valley, California, in December 1849....
, south out of the valley for help. The Briers made a heroic climb over the Panamints to safety, while the Bennetts waited huddled around their wagons with water but no food. Four weeks later, after an incredible 500 mile round-trip trek across the Mojave Desert to Rancho San Francisco (approx. 30 miles north of Los Angeles), Manly & Rogers returned with some food supplies and a single mule (three other horses had died on the return trip), and the Bennett and Arcane families walked and rode their remaining oxen out of what they named, "Death Valley".
There appears to have been only one death among the '49er emigrants within Death Valley itself, a Capt. Culverwell. Two weeks before the return of Manly and Rogers, a small group had attempted to walk out to the southwest, and Capt. Culverwell, a middle-aged man, was unable to keep up with the younger, stronger men and had turned back to re-join the Bennett/Arcane party. He never made it, and succumbed to dehydration. His body was found by Manly & Rogers only a couple of miles short of the Bennett camp on their return trek from Rancho San Francisco. Two members of another group of emigrants, the Jayhawkers, who had been traveling with the Bennett/Arcane Party, died along the trail west of the Panamint Range; their names are given in Manly's journal as Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham.
Interestingly, the granddaughter of Chief Winnamucca of the Piutes later wrote that the Indians at the time knew of both the Donner and Death Valley emigrant parties disasters and could easily have saved them. But they considered the whites to be a cruel and a mean people.
While the main motivation of the emigrants was to join the California gold rush, the 1849 rush wasn't nearly as profitable as the later silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
rush of the Comstock Lode in Nevada.
Death Valley's true treasure was its borax
Borax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
and its natural beauty.
The first community in the Amargosa Desert was founded circa 1905 as the result of extensive borax mining in the area. In 1907, two railroads started to service the borax, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and other important mineral mining and processing operations in the surrounding region. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, the T&T, was a class II railroad extending through remote reaches of the Mojave Desert from the Santa Fe Railway railhead at Ludlow, California, through Death Valley and Amargosa Valley, terminating at the Mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield in the Great Basin...
(T and T) ran between Ludlow, California
Ludlow, California
Ludlow is a small town in the Mojave Desert on Interstate 40, located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The older remains of the ghost town are along historic Route 66.-Geography:...
and Gold Center (just south of present-day Beatty
Beatty, Nevada
Beatty is a census-designated place along the Amargosa River in Nye County in the U.S. state of Nevada. U.S. Route 95 runs through the CDP, which lies between Tonopah, about to the north, and Las Vegas, about to the southeast. State Route 374 connects Beatty to Death Valley National Park, about ...
), Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The competing Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
The Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad was a 197.9 mile railroad built by William A. Clark that ran northwest from a connection with the mainline of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad at Las Vegas, Nevada to the gold mines at Goldfield...
line linked Las Vegas to Goldfield, Nevada
Goldfield, Nevada
Goldfield is an unincorporated community and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States, with a resident population of 440 at the 2000 census. It is located about southeast of Carson City, along U.S...
. As mining yields and economics changed, the railroads became less viable. The Las Vegas and Tonopah line was abandoned in 1918, and the T and T was shut down on June 14, 1940. By mid-1942, all of the T and T's rails and scrap iron had been salvaged by the U.S. Department of War
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
in support of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Only sections of the graded railroad bed remain; the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) constructs and maintains hiking trails along some portions of the old railroad bed in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Modern development did not begin in the valley until the early 1950s. Electric power, other than that produced by private generators, was not available until 1963. Until the early 1990s growth in Amargosa Valley was minimal. More recently, intense growth in Las Vegas has led many new residents to settle in Amargosa Valley and nearby Pahrump
Pahrump, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,631 people, 10,153 households, and 7,127 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 82.7 people per square mile . There were 11,651 housing units at an average density of 39.1 per square mile...
. Amargosa Valley is served by the 775 area code, and most landline phone numbers in the area utilize the 372 exchange, following the format (775) 372-xxxx. The ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 89020.
Amargosa Valley is near the controversial Yucca Mountain Repository, a U.S. Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE) facility on federal land, designed for the storage of high-level nuclear waste. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed House Joint Resolution 87 on July 23, 2002, authorizing the DOE to proceed with construction at Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain
The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was to be a deep geological repository storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and other high level radioactive waste, until the project was canceled in 2009. It was to be located on federal land adjacent to the Nevada Test Site in Nye County,...
, although the facility was not expected to accept its first shipments of radioactive materials
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
before 2012. The facility's main entrance will be in Amargosa Valley, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of the storage tunnels. In 2009 President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
stated that the repository was no longer being considered as a site for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.
Solar thermal plant
Controversy over water rightWater right
Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious...
s resulted in 2009 when Solar Millennium
Solar Millennium
Solar Millennium is a German globally active company in the renewable energy sector founded in 1998 in Erlangen, Germany, which is specialized in the designing and implementation of solar thermal power plants...
, a German company, announced plans to build a solar thermal plant
Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy . Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat...
in the Amargosa Valley
Amargosa Valley
The Amargosa Valley is a Nevada landform east of the Amargosa Range that is the eponym for the town of Amargosa Valley, Nevada. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ran through the valley from 1906 to 1940.-Solar thermal plant:...
that would require 20 percent of the water available in the area.
Geography
Amargosa Valley is located at 36.58001 North, -116.44487 West at an elevation of 2,640 feet (805 m) above sea level. The landscape is typical of lower to moderate elevations in the Mojave DesertMojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, with flat expanses of sandy soil punctuated by rocky mounds and hills. Predominant indigenous vegetation is White Bursage and Creosote Bush
Creosote bush
Larrea tridentata is known as Creosote bush as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and as "gobernadora" in Mexico, Spanish for "governess," due to its ability for inhibiting the growth of nearby plants to have more water. In Sonora, it is more commonly called "hediondilla." It is a flowering...
, with some Joshua Trees and Cacti
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
at higher elevations. Numerous non-native plant species have also been introduced.
Transportation
The principal highways serving Amargosa Valley are U.S. Route 95 which runs north-south connecting Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, and State Route 373
Nevada State Route 373
State Route 373 is a state highway in Nye County, Nevada, USA. It is a highway connecting California State Route 127 to U.S. Route 95, providing southern Nye County access to the eastern areas of Death Valley National Park.-Route description:...
, which runs east-west connecting Amargosa Valley to Death Valley Junction
Death Valley Junction, California
Death Valley Junction is a tiny Mojave Desert community in unincorporated Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, just east of Death Valley National Park. The zip code is 92328, the elevation is , and the population fewer than 20. The city limits sign reports a...
via California State Route 127
California State Route 127
State Route 127 is a California state highway that connects Interstate 15 to Nevada State Route 373, passing through Death Valley National Park....
.
Recreation
Amargosa Valley is home to recreational attractions, both natural and man-made. Ash Meadows National Wildlife RefugeAsh Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located west-northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, in southern Nye County...
features approximately 23,000 acres (93 km²) of spring-fed wetlands and is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
. The refuge provides habitat for at least 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four fish (Devil's Hole Pupfish
Devil's Hole pupfish
The Devil's Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis, is a species of fish native to Devil's Hole, a geothermal , aquifer-fed pool within a limestone cavern, in the Amargosa Pupfish Station of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex east of Death Valley National Park.-Physical description:The Devil's...
, Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish, Warm Springs Pupfish, and Ash Meadows Speckled Dace), one insect (Ash Meadows Naucorid), and one plant (Amargosa Nitewort) are currently listed as endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. Ash Meadows NWR
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
can be accessed via SR 373 in Amargosa Valley, SR 160 near Crystal, Nevada
Crystal, Nevada
Crystal is the name of two locations in Nevada:*Crystal, Nye County, Nevada*Crystal, Clark County, Nevada...
or from Bell Vista Road west of Pahrump
Pahrump, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,631 people, 10,153 households, and 7,127 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 82.7 people per square mile . There were 11,651 housing units at an average density of 39.1 per square mile...
. Entrances to the refuge are marked with road signs.
Big Dune is a formation of sand dunes, cresting approximately 300 feet (91.4 m) above surrounding terrain. The dune formation and surrounding land is administered by the BLM and is open to motorized and non-motorized recreational uses. Big Dune is accessible from Valley View Road, approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) south of U.S. 95.
Cherry Patch Ranch II is one of Nevada's legal brothels
Prostitution in Nevada
Nevada is the only U.S. state to allow some legal prostitution, in the form of regulated brothels. Prostitution outside these licensed brothels is illegal....
. It is located near the corner of U.S. 95 and SR 373. Longstreet Hotel, Casino, and RV Resort
Longstreet Hotel, Casino, and RV Resort
The Longstreet Hotel, Casino, and RV Resort is located on State Route 373, in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, seven miles north of Death Valley Junction. The resort has a nine-hole golf course, 60 rooms, an RV park with 50 spaces, as well as a casino, a bar and two restaurants....
is a full-service hotel and casino with restaurants and a RV
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
park. The hotel is located on SR 373, near the Nevada–California border. The hotel is popular with visitors to nearby Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
.
External links
- Amargosa Valley Home Page - privately operated commercial site; not maintained by a government entity
- Amargosa Valley Library
- Amargosa Valley — Google map
- Ash Meadows NWR
- Big Dune — satellite image
- Amargosa Dune Information
- Yucca Mountain Project — US Government site
- Yucca Mountain Project — Eureka County, Nevada site