Leslie and David's Wanderings: 1 August 2021 Gold Butte NM

Gold Butte NM is run by the BLM and is located between Lake Mead National Recreation Area on one side and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument on the other side, near the Nevada/Arizona state line. There are no facilities, no maintained trails, no campgrounds and the dirt roads are barely maintained. We knew it would be a long day, so we decided to take Etta with us. We drove out of Las Vegas on I-15 north and exited near the state line (exit 112) and crossed over the Virgin River where we picked up the start of the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway. The first 21 miles of the road are sort of paved. The pavement is disintegrating with pot holes and patches. The pavement ends at Whitney Pocket. Whitney Pocket is a red rock butte sticking up out of the brown desert that has been carved by erosion into really cool shapes and caves. The next 20 miles to the Gold Butte townsite is a rough, wide, and rocky minimally maintained road. The townsite was not much to see as the town was mostly tents. A couple of graves and some pieces of rusted equipment from its gold mining days. The western loop from the town site to Devil’s Throat is narrow and rough, 4 wheel drive was not needed but high clearance was a must. We diverted into Mud Wash to visit Little Finland, and found patches of deep sand, so we ended up in 4 high to keep traction. From the parking area for Little Finland, I found barbwire fences blocking access the strangely shaped eroded rocks on the bluff. So it was not clear how to climb up from the western parking area. Did not try from the East. Next we stopped at the Devils Throat, a large sinkhole that opened up in the 1930s. But they have a fence around it for safety and you can’t see much. The little CCC built dam was pretty cool near Whitney Pocket. But could not find any info on other CCC activities within the park. We ended up doing almost 80 miles off pavement. It was hot in the valley and thunderstorms exploded over us, but we barely got any rain. The clouds helped keep the sun off us for part of the day and made for dramatic photos but fortunately we did not have any heavy rain or flash flooding. From start to finish turned into an 11 hour day trip. Poor Etta was ready to sit still for a while after a long bumpy day.