Titus Canyon Ride
Titus Canyon, a one way dirt/gravel/jeep trail leading from Beatty NV to Death Valley, has been on my bucket list for some time. I rode it a few weeks ago, but didnt get a chance to see much as my riding partners were very fast riders.
So yesterday my buddy Rodney and I headed out to Beatty NV, past Rhyolite ghost town (well worth a visit if you havent been, no offroad required) and took the turn off to Titus Canyon.
The road rises up into the mountains defining the Death Valley valley on its eastern edge, over Red Pass, also known as the Leadfield Road after the ghost town of Leadfield further along Titus Canyon.
The road narrows and widens at various points, and in certain sections is wide enough for a car an not much else, with sheer cliffs rising on either side 100s of feet. While Death Valley itself offers an amazing variety of scenery (it is among my favorite National Parks for this reason), the Titus Canyon Road is a true bucket list item.
Along the way are the ruins of Leadfield. Ore was being exploited in Titus Canyon as early as 1905, but the townsite of Leadfield at the head of the canyon dates to the years 1925 and 1926. The product of extensive and fraudulent advertising by the Western Lead Mine Company and C.C. Julian, the town boomed in 1925. His advertising posters showed steamboats navigating the Amargosa River to Leadfield, ignoring the fact that the Amargosa River is dry much of the time and does not run within 20 miles of Leadfield.
Fifteen miles of road were built up the canyon to connect with the road to Beatty, Nevada, a concrete foundation for a stamp mill was poured, and the beginning of a series of power poles for electric lines were installed.
Historic photographs show some frame and corrugated metal buildings and there is evidence of a few dugouts, but the majority of the denizens of Leadfield lived in tents of varying sizes and construction. The population peaked at around 300 in 1926, with a post office opening in August of that year. However, by February 1927, the post office closed down and the town died.
Julian disappeared and the inhabitants soon became disillusioned and quickly drifted away. The significance of the site lies in the fact it was an example of one of the get-rich-quick schemes of the wild 1920s
Evidence of native Americans' claim to the area are a number of petroglyphs along the way that offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of early inhabitants
The end of Tius Canyon road leads to an intersection with the road to Scotty's Castle which, as of Jan 2021, is still closed following devastating floods in 2015, Furnace creek, and Stovepipe Wells.
If you havent been to Death Valley, do it.. you dont need a 4x4 to enjoy the vast majority of the area and it is truly a stunningly diverse landscape with a fascinating history, much of a testament to the strength of the human spirit (and greed LOL)
Hopefully you can enjoy some of these pix I took along the way