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Black Rock Desert
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The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed and the surrounding endorheic basin in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The flat expanse of dry lake, or playa, is a remnant of the 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 of water.
The area was used in the mid-1800s by branches of the California Trail and Oregon Trail for settlement of the US West Coast.
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Encyclopedia
The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed and the surrounding endorheic basin in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The flat expanse of dry lake, or playa, is a remnant of the 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 of water.
The area was used in the mid-1800s by branches of the California Trail and Oregon Trail for settlement of the US West Coast. Since then, the area has been host to scattered mining activity. The Black Rock Desert also hosts various recreational, scientific, commercial and record-breaking activities which take advantage of the playa's enormous flat expanse.
Most of the region is federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area and 10 federally-designated wilderness area which protect the areas that had been part of the historic trails. BLM also manages recreational activities in the area.
Geography
The Black Rock Desert region is in northwestern Nevada and the northwestern Great Basin. The playa extends for approximately 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 and has an area of about .
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. The watershed covers including the Upper and Lower Quinn River, Smoke Creek Desert, Massacre Lake, and Thousand Creek/Virgin Valley watersheds of northwestern Nevada as well as small parts across the borders of California and Oregon.
Humboldt, Pershing and Washoe Counties of Nevada intersect at the Black Rock Desert.
The following mountain ranges are within or bordering the Black Rock Desert region.
History
Image:Thrustssc.team.750pix.jpg|Thrust SSC team after land speed record, November 1997 (photo by Andrew Graves)
Image:Kluft-photo-CSXT-2004-amateur-space-launch.jpg|CSXT first amateur rocket launch to space, May 17, 2004 (photo by Ian Kluft)
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. The explorers who mapped the routes through the area and the emigrants who followed them named the Black Rock Desert for a prominent point near a spring along the route now known as Black Rock Point. It is still often called simply "the Black Rock".
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 . 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 .
In addition to the flat surface, the uncontrolled airspace over the area also attracts experimentation with rockets. The following are highlights of amateur rocketry records set at Black Rock:
Use
Prospecting and mining has occurred in the area since the 1800s. US Gypsum Corporation operates a gypsum mine and drywall (brand named Sheetrock) manufacturing plant in Empire. The Sulphur mining district on the east side of the desert has been the location of sulfur, mercury, alunite, silver and gold mining including a currently-active gold strip mining operation. An opal mine is in the base of the Calico Mountains on the west side of the desert.
Black Rock's unusually flat landscape has been a recurring set for movies, TV, videos and commercials. Examples include The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926), The Misfits (1961), Far From Home (1989) and MythBusters (2003, Episode #1: Rocket-Assisted Chevy).
Image:Lightmatter burningman.jpg|Burning Man festival
Image:Kluft-photo-dual-hpr-launch-Sep-2004-Img 2757c.jpg|High Power Rocketry
Recreation
Black Rock is the site of the annual Burning Man festival. It is the largest event that occurs there.
The area is also used by several prefectures (regional chapters) of the Tripoli Rocketry Association. The hosts "MudRock" in June, "Aeronaut" in late July or early August, and "eXtreme Performance Rocket Ships (XPRS)" in September. The hosts "" in September. It is a significant launch site for high power and amateur rocket hobbyists. These organizations arrange airspace waivers from the FAA up to altitudes of and sometimes higher.
The flat surface and frequent winds also attract land sailing enthusiasts. Similarly, glider pilots from Reno host a regional annual soaring race from Reno to Black Rock called the Gerlach Dash.
Another recurring recreational activity is rockhounding. BLM places regulatory limits on quantities of rocks which may be removed per person per day from public lands that it manages.
Hazards
The Black Rock Desert region has vast areas of land where travelers who experience a breakdown might not be found by others. The ease with which a visitor can drive onto the playa allows newcomers to take risks that they may not realize. Some web sites about the area have suggestions about preparation and survival. These and other sites have in common the usual desert travel advice to carry enough water, let people know where you plan to go and bring enough supplies to wait for a potential rescue if needed. In general, they advise taking the dangers seriously and giving some thought to survival skills. The hazards of the desert have led to fatalities as long as people have visited the area.
Typical hazards include muddy surface, vehicle breakdowns, dust storms, hot days and cold nights. Dehydration is always a factor in the desert. It's easy to get lost on the vast flat surface. The lakebed and dirt roads are generally impassable in the wet season.
Sometimes well-prepared travelers have come to the assistance of others in distress. In July 2008, a particularly unique rescue was reported. A general aviation aircraft pilot, John Morgan, flying across the Black Rock Desert noticed an injured and dying man lying face-down isolated on the playa. Morgan landed his Aviat Husky on the lakebed and taxied to where the man was lying. He contacted a passing airliner on the radio and arranged a message to be relayed so the man could be taken by medevac helicopter to a hospital in Reno.
Transportation
The main highway in the area is Nevada State Route 447 from Interstate 80 at Wadsworth and Fernley to Gerlach. Some pre-1978 decommissioned highways remain mostly as dirt roads which are generally not usable in wet or snowy conditions, and may require high ground clearance even in good conditions. Old Highway 34 provides access to the playa on the west side and to the Hualapai Valley. Old Highway 49, also known as Jungo Road, is a dirt road that provides access to the playa from the west and connects to Winnemucca via the ghost towns of Sulphur and Jungo. Old Highway 48 is a dirt road that connects the playa to Lovelock.
A freight rail line goes through Gerlach and up the east side of the playa on its way between Oroville, California and Winnemucca on the Feather River Route. It was built as part of the Western Pacific Railroad, now part of Union Pacific Railroad. There is no passenger rail service.
The Empire Airport in Empire has two unpaved runways. Light aircraft have also landed on the Black Rock Desert playa to attend events there. The nearest commercial airline service is at Reno.
Federal lands
Image:BLM-Winnemucca-NCA-Map 1-01 reference.gif|map of Black Rock-High Rock NCA and 10 wilderness areas
Image:Black Rock Desert BLM Sign.jpg|BLM sign at Eight-mile playa entrance
The Bureau of Land Management manages the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (often shortened to "Black Rock-High-Rock NCA") and the following 10 wilderness areas in the Black Rock Desert region.
Hot springs
Among many recreational activities at Black Rock, some people like to visit hot springs. BLM distributes pamphlets and even has billboards on Interstate 80 saying "Hot springs on public lands - stay out and stay alive!" They describe reasons in their press release, . BLM's "stay out and stay alive" campaign was the result of a lawsuit filed against it by the family of a woman who died in 2000 at Double Hot Springs. She fell in the water trying to save her dog that had jumped in.
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. This hot spring fountain was accidentally formed by a water well drilling that hit a geothermal source. Fly Ranch is private property which does not currently allow visitors.
See also
External links
- Regulatory
- Regional info
- - Information about Black Rock Desert region conservation projects, current conditions, events, maps, and more.
- - overview, safety info, photos and links oriented toward rocketry at Black Rock
- - coordination of radio frequency usage among licensed amateur radio operators
- Rocketry
- - Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacfic, host of the "MudRock", "Aeronaut" and "XPRS" annual high-power rocketry events at Black Rock
- - Arizona High Power Rocketry Association, host of the "BALLS" annual high-power rocketry event at Black Rock
- Fly Geyser
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