Overview

The Lone Grapevine Road is a maintained backcountry road north of Highway 160 (the road to Pahrump) that provides access to the wild backcountry of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area at the base of the Red Rock Escarpment. Lone Grapevine Road connects Black Velvet Road with Wildhorse Loop Road, allowing drivers to bypass the washes and 4WD sections of Wildhorse Loop Road.

Lone Grapevine Road is 1.8 miles long and runs through the desert north of Mustang Hill. Camping is not permitted along the road.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about driving in the desert, ...this is a fairly easy drive. Under normal conditions, the road is suitable for any sedan, but sometimes the road is muddy, washed out, and requires a high-clearance vehicle.

While out, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this road is short, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Roadhead

From town, drive out to Red Rocks. From West Charleston at the entrance to the Scenic Loop Road (Table 1, Site 0519), continue west on Charleston Blvd (Hwy 159) all the way past Blue Diamond town to Highway 160 (Site 0848). Turn right onto Highway 160, towards Pahrump, and drive west for 4.7 miles. Watch for a paved, right turn lane and the parking area off to the right; there is no sign on the highway. Turn right onto the Late Night Access Road (Site 1076) and drive towards the paved parking area. Stay to the right and continue past the parking areas and the vault toilet (Site 1072) to the far end of the paved parking area (Site 1081).

The Road

At the far east corner of the paved area (Site 1081), the graded dirt Black Velvet Road runs out into the desert generally heading northeast. Watch for a carsonite "designated route" sign.

Black Velvet Road runs northeast, then bends and runs northwest as it passes east of Mustang Hill. At 1.30 miles (Site 1082) and 1.34 miles out (Site 1083), the Black Velvet Road passes two side roads to the left. These two roads converge to become Lone Grapevine Road.

Turning to the left, "both" Lone Grapevine roads run southwest towards the Red Rock Escarpment and converge at less than 0.2 miles out. Lone Grapevine Road is maintained with few rocks or big bumps, but the exact condition depends on the time since grading and the history of rain and flooding, but it should be suitable for a carefully driven sedan.

At 0.5 miles out, Lone Grapevine Road passes a pull-out on the right overlooking a wash (Site 1084). This is the trailhead parking for Mud Spring #2, which is down in the wash a few minutes walk to the west.

At about 1.0 miles out, Lone Grapevine Road bends hard to the left to run due south, and then at about 1.2 miles out, it bends hard to the right to run southwest. At about 1.8 miles out, Lone Grapevine Road intersects Wildhorse Loop Road at a T-intersection (Site 1085). Lone Grapevine Road road might appear to continue straight, but the road ahead is closed to vehicles.

For Lone Grapevine Trailhead Parking (Site 1075), turn right onto Wildhorse Loop Road to continue 0.2 miles. To the left, Wildhorse Loop Road has a serious 4WD section.