Overview

Tramp Mine Road is a 4.3-mile spur road off Mud Wash Road that runs more or less due south and ends at a wash below Tramp Mine, which is high on the side of Tramp Ridge. For most vehicles, however, the road is 3.9 miles long with a 0.4-mile hike to the end of the old mine road.

The first 3.9 miles are in fairly good condition and might be drivable in a 2WD-HV vehicle, but 4WD is safer when passing washouts. This road provides access to the Tramp Mine area and the Bauer Mine area. There are many places to pull off into the desert, but there are no traditional campsites along the road.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about driving in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe road, normally suitable for 2WD-HC vehicles without any unusual hazards until 3.7 miles out. Beyond 3.7 miles, drivers should use 4WD vehicles if only for turning around; use your own good judgment.

This is wild and remote country without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. It is a big place, but someone will eventually find you if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two, or even longer on side roads. Cell phones don't work here.

While out, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote hike, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials. Cell phones don't work.

Getting to the Road

Tramp Mine Road is located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about 2.5 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out to Gold Butte National Monument, then drive south on the paved Gold Butte Road to Whitney Pocket where the pavement ends. Continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 7.25 miles to Mud Wash Road, a signed turnoff to Devils Throat and Red Bluff Spring.

Turn right onto Mud Wash Road and drive southwest for 0.3 miles to a fork in the road. Mud Wash Road continues right, while Devils Throat Road forks off to the left. Staying right, continue west for another 2.1 or 2.2 miles (two points on a triangular intersection) to Tramp Mine Road, on the left.

Driving east on Mud Wash Road, this is 0.3 and 0.4 miles from where the road leaves the sandy wash portion of Mud Wash Road.

The Road

From Mud Wash Road (Table 1, Site 1674; the northwest point of the triangle intersection), Tramp Mine Road forks hard to the left and heads south. At about 90 yards out, the other leg of the triangle intersection merges from the left. Together, the road continues southeast.

The fairly smooth road runs southward across a sparsely vegetated landscape, crossing a few minor washes and dodging a few large rocks and bushes that press in from the sides.

At about 0.8 miles out, Tramp Mine Road crosses Bauer Wash, a larger (but still minor) wash that comes down from the Bauer Mine area. This is the northern trailhead for the hike to the Bauer Mine area.

Continuing across the gentle landscape, the road dips to cross a major wash with a firm gravel bed at about 1.6 miles out.

After running along a bit of a ridge overlooking the wash that was crossed, the road runs out across a flat landscape. At about 2.2 miles out, a nondescript spot on the side of the road serves as the southern trailhead for the Bauer Mine area.

At about 2.6 miles out, the road dips back into the major wash that was crossed earlier. Running up the wash, the road eventually crosses to the other side to run below a rocky hillside (2.8 miles out). The road continues up the broad, braided wash (passing two washouts), and eventually passes a high crag on the right (3.3 miles out) where it begins to feel like a canyon rather than desert flats and washes.

The road continues up the wash, and at about 3.7 miles out, finally leaves the wash and climbs onto the east bank. At 3.9 miles out, the road runs up to a cliff overlooking a deep wash on the right. This is the last good place to park (Site 1937) before the road gets quite narrow and turn-arounds become limited, and it is only 0.16 miles (about 280 yards) to a bad washout that functionally ends the road. ATVs and rock-hoppers can continue another 0.25 miles to the actual end of the road (Site 1938).