Backroads across Nevada to Bonneville in August

[roadcow]

Hi,
Newby here and should introduce myself. My name is Britt grannis and I restore VW Buses. I also take them offroad and camp in the wilderness as much as possible. Here are 2 sites which will help let you all see what we do. www.backroadbus.com and www.shastasnowtrip.com We usually use pre 67 Split Buses for thier better ground clearance and lower gearing. We carry high lift jacks and some of our Buses are winch equipped.
I'm racing at bonneville in a VW in Sept 09 but there is another meet in August and we'd like to take 5 days to drive/camp across N. Nevada and end up in Bonneville for the racing. I have a Bus with dual batteries, tanks with 30 gallon cap. www.roadcow.com which I may use on this trip. If anyone can reccomend a route ( we don't like pavement) across Nevada with some fairly challenging roads and another group to the east I'd really appreciate it.
By the way I have a customer with a cherry early Land Cruiser with the OG Toyota Winch and low miles and his plate reads ;
CJ RESCU I appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

 

[inthewall]

Where are you starting from cali, arizona, idaho?
In NE nevada you could start in Winnemucca travel to midas-tuscarora-jarbidge-jackpot then cut across to wendover. There is gas in every place but Tuscarora. Most of it can be dirt roads.

 

[proto]

Hiya, I'm always on the lookout for Northern Nevada expeditions too. Is there an overland route along the points you've named?

I've been from Tuscarora to Jarbidge. It's pretty lonely country, but but beautiful, especially around MacAfee Peak and the resevoir there (forget the name).

Jarbidge is listed as a ghost town left over from the gold mining era. I was surprised to find it inhabited (with a real estate office, no less!) Not much in the way of ghosty old buildings to look at, though.

All this region is at a respectable altitude -- over 6000 ft, most places, and McAfee is the highest point in the range at almost 10,500 ft. BTW: it's listed as part of a roadless area (RARE II inventory), but it has a radio tower on it, so there must be a road or trail up to somewhere near the summit.

About the only place I remember with gas is Elko, and with the economy in a downswing, some of the out-of the-way stations might close. That might be a limiting factor.

Spring City and Buckskin (near the Winnemucca end) might also be worth a look.

At the Utah end, is it worth trying to go from Jackpot, around the north end of the Salt Lake, and down the highway to Bonneville? That would give an opportunity to stop in SLC for a meal and a room. Or, maybe take a southern route by way of Ely?

 

[surfpig]

Battle Born Cruisers do a lot of runs in that area, mild to wild. They're a good source of info on some of the old immigrant routes, etc...

BLM is a good source of info as well.

 

[roadcow]

Wow! Thanks for the answers, I was expecting to get email notifications of replies so I guess I need to tick the right Box.
We'll be starting from Northern calif and go over Hwy 88. I will contact the BLM and am interested in finding some maps which may show some of these dirt roads that have been mentioned. Again many thanks for the answers so far.

 

[Mike Shull]

Neveda is a beautiful state as long as you stay off the highway!

 

[inthewall]

There is a whole lot of this.

 

[inthewall]

And this