2021-01-18, 02:41 PM
Well since I've been going to the area, since 1990, I've seen various roads closed, like to old road to the former sand dunes picnic area (and on to the real Stovepipe Well) but this, the former north part of the west side road, had been closed quite a while before I showed up.
Yes, as Kauri says, the road goes straight as an arrow away from about where you park for Redwall. It is intentionally obscured for just a bit, to hide it from off-roaders, but then goes clear across. I have not walked that section.
I walked some of the section that goes on the west side of the Niter Beds this spring. I can testify that the road is there and easy to follow visually. although a tad obscured in places from windblown debris. In fact the road shows on the 7.5 topo as "old road grade" and is marked true to the real location.
Another nice road that we walked this spring (after we'd been kicked out of our lodging due to covid, on our last day in the park) goes south from 190, starting on the west side of Devil's Cornfield, and down to the MacLean Spring area. There is actually still a bridge in place down there, some old timbers, but crossing the creek area over to the spring (on the east side) was a touch muddy (I got one boot mucked up). This road is harder to find - I took a bunch of waypoints from looking at sat images so I could pick it up in areas where it had washed out. And it's not obvious from driving by on 190 - you need to know where to head out before you can actually find it on the ground. But once you are on it, for the most part you are clearly following old road.
![[Image: salt_creek_road.jpg]](https://web.media.mit.edu/~geek/webpix/dv20/salt_creek_road.jpg)
Yes, as Kauri says, the road goes straight as an arrow away from about where you park for Redwall. It is intentionally obscured for just a bit, to hide it from off-roaders, but then goes clear across. I have not walked that section.
I walked some of the section that goes on the west side of the Niter Beds this spring. I can testify that the road is there and easy to follow visually. although a tad obscured in places from windblown debris. In fact the road shows on the 7.5 topo as "old road grade" and is marked true to the real location.
Another nice road that we walked this spring (after we'd been kicked out of our lodging due to covid, on our last day in the park) goes south from 190, starting on the west side of Devil's Cornfield, and down to the MacLean Spring area. There is actually still a bridge in place down there, some old timbers, but crossing the creek area over to the spring (on the east side) was a touch muddy (I got one boot mucked up). This road is harder to find - I took a bunch of waypoints from looking at sat images so I could pick it up in areas where it had washed out. And it's not obvious from driving by on 190 - you need to know where to head out before you can actually find it on the ground. But once you are on it, for the most part you are clearly following old road.