| Black Rock Desert | |
| Desert | |
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Nevada |
| Part of | Great Basin |
| Location | lakebed/playa |
| - elevation | 3,848 ft (1,173 m) |
| - coordinates | |
| Area | 1,000 sq mi (2,590 km²) |
| For public | Federal lands (including the playa) are open to the public with regulatory restrictions. Some private lands are in the region and are closed to the public. |
| Easiest access | Nevada State Route 447 |
| Timezone | Pacific Standard Time (UTC8) |
| - summer (DST) | Pacific Daylight Time (UTC7) |
  location in Nevada
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The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The desert is part of the extended playa of the lake bed of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, which existed between 18,000 and 7,000 BC during the last ice age. During the lake's peak around 12,700 years ago, the desert floor was under approximately 500 feet (150m) of water.
Contents |
Geography
The desert extends for approximately 100 miles (160km) northeast from the towns of Gerlach and Empire, between the Jackson Mountains to the east and the Calico Mountains to the west. The Black Rock Desert is separated into two arms by the Black Rock Range. It lies at an elevation of 3848 feet (1172 metres)[1] and has an area of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 km²).[2] There are several possible definitions of the extent of the Black Rock Desert. Often people refer just to the playa surface. Sometimes terrain which can be seen from the playa is included. The widest definition of the Black Rock Desert region is the watershed of the basin that drains into the playa. The intermittent Quinn River is the largest river in the region, starting in the Santa Rosa Range and ending in the Quinn River Sink on the playa south of the Black Rock Range. Humboldt, Pershing and Washoe Counties of Nevada intersect at the Black Rock Desert.
History
In the mid-1800s, particularly during the California Gold Rush, the Applegate-Lassen Cut-Off of the California Trail left the main route of that Trail near present-day Rye Patch Reservoir, and crossed the Black Rock Desert, on the way to Goose Lake in northeast California, and the California gold fields.
Use
The Sulphur mining district on the east side of the desert has been mined since the late 1800s. Sulfur, mercury, alunite, silver and gold have been mined there.[3] An opal mine is in the base of the Calico Mountains on the west side of the desert.[4] The flatness of the surface has led to its use as a proving ground for experimental land vehicles. It was the site of the most recent successful attempts on the World Land Speed Record. In 1983, Richard Noble drove the jet-powered Thrust2 car to a new record of 633 miles per hour. Noble also headed up the team that beat the Thrust 2 record. In 1997, ThrustSSC became the world's first and only supersonic car, reaching 763+ mph.[5] The area is also used by several prefectures (regional chapters) of the Tripoli Rocketry Association. The Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific (AeroPAC) hosts "MudRock" in June, "Aeronaut" in late July/early August, and "eXtreme Performance Rocket Ships (XPRS)" in September.[6] The Arizona High Power Rocketry Association (AHPRA) hosts "BALLS" in September. It is a significant launch site for high power and amateur rocket hobbyists. When any of these organizations refer to maximum altitudes for their "waivers", they are talking about approval to use the airspace which they have obtained from the FAA. The allowed ceiling in these FAA waivers is commonly up to 100,000 feet, and can be expected to grow higher following the capabilities of hobby rocketry technology. On May 17, 2004 the Black Rock Desert was the site of the first amateur rocket launch to space, launched by the Civilian Space eXploration Team. Land sailing also occurs in the area[7]. It has become famous as the site of the annual Burning Man festival. It is informally referred to as "the playa."
National Conservation Area and Federal Wilderness Areas
The Bureau of Land Management manages the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area and the following 10 wilderness areas in the Black Rock Desert region. [8]
- Black Rock Desert Wilderness
- Calico Mountains Wilderness
- East Fork High Rock Canyon Wilderness
- High Rock Canyon Wilderness
- High Rock Lake Wilderness
- Little High Rock Canyon Wilderness
- North Black Rock Range Wilderness
- North Jackson Mountains Wilderness
- Pahute Peak Wilderness
- South Jackson Mountains Wilderness
Hot springs in the Black Rock Desert region
- Black Rock
- Trego / Butte
- Double Hot
- Springs
- Coyote Spring
- name unknown
- name unknown
- Mud Springs
- Great Boiling Spring
- Fly Ranch
Some of these are of recreational use, some are dangerous, some are mostly geological curiosities. Some are on private land.
Fly Geyser
At Fly Ranch, the Fly Geyser is one of two geysers at the ranch - the other being dormant, possibly because of the upheaval of the second geyser. The Fly Geyser continuously sprays hot water onto what was once desert land. This hot spring fountain is probably a leaking geothermal test well.[9]
Photo gallery
 Black Rock Desert playa. |
 Black Rock Point partially obscured in a dust and sand storm. Photo by Ian Kluft |
 BLM sign at Eight-mile playa entrance. Photo by Ryan Finnie. |
See also
References
- ^ Black Rock Desert Larry Turner
- ^ Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac, 2007, New York, New York: Penguin Books, 456. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ^ Mine Development Associates (January 2006). Technical Report, Vista Gold Corp, Hycroft Mine (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
- ^ Little Joe opal mine (Black Rock mine; Little Jo mine), Donnelly District, Humboldt Co., Nevada, USA. mindat.org. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
- ^ Land speed record
- ^ Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific (January 2007). AeroPAC Schedule (HTML). Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
- ^ Starrs, Paul F.; Peter Goin (September 2005). Black Rock. University of Nevada Press, 85,234. ISBN 0874175917.
- ^ Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area Fact Sheet. Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ DeLong, Jeff. "Fly Geyser: an arresting desert landmark", Reno Gazette-Journal, 2001-11-19. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
External links
- Bureau of Land Management: Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area
- How to avoid needing a rescue at Black Rock by Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team
- Story about the Fly Geyser
- Friends of Black Rock High Rock - Information about Black Rock Desert region conservation projects, current conditions, events, maps, and more.
- Ian Kluft's Black Rock page - overview, safety info, photos and links oriented toward rocketry at Black Rock
- AeroPAC - Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacfic, host of the "MudRock", "Aeronaut" and "XPRS" annual high-power rocketry events at Black Rock
- AHPRA - Arizona High Power Rocketry Association, host of the "BALLS" annual high-power rocketry event at Black Rock
- Rodney Lough photograph of Fly Geyser
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| Geography | Gerlach and Empire · Jackson Mountains · Calico Mountains · Black Rock Range · Santa Rosa Range · Quinn River · Kings River · Lake Lahontan |  |
| History/Records | Peter Lassen · Applegate Trail · Thrust SSC land speed record 1997 · CSXT Space Shot 2004 | |
| Federal Lands | Black Rock-High Rock NCA · Black Rock Desert Wilderness · Calico Mountains Wilderness · East Fork High Rock Canyon Wilderness · High Rock Canyon Wilderness · High Rock Lake Wilderness · Little High Rock Canyon Wilderness · North Black Rock Range Wilderness · North Jackson Mountains Wilderness · Pahute Peak Wilderness · South Jackson Mountains Wilderness | |
| Activities | Burning Man · High Power Rocketry · Land sailing | |
