Overview

Black Butte Road is a 5.3-mile side road off Gold Butte Road that provides 2WD-HC vehicle access to wild and rugged parts of Gold Butte National Monument west of Whitney Pocket. From the pavement, Black Butte Road runs southwest to the Falling Man Petroglyph Site. Past the trailhead, the road gets rougher and is better suited for 4WD vehicles, but still usually is passable in 2WD-HC vehicles. The road continues southwest, crosses a sandy wash (access to Twenty-one Goats), climbs over a low ridge, crosses another wash, passes the Black Butte and Sand Wash trailheads, and eventually climbs high onto the south side of Bitter Ridge. From there, the road drops steeply into a wash, then follows the wash uphill until climbing onto a ridge overlooking the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. The last section is suitable to ATV-type vehicles

For photos of the return back up Black Butte Road to the pavement, see Black Butte Road (northeast bound).

Link to road map or regional road map.

Watch Out

Note (March 2022): this road was recently graded.

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... except for the last section, this road is fairly safe without any unusual hazards. I nearly rolled a jeep on the last section.

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. Some cell phones might work in this area, but don't count on them. The very end of the road should have cell service.

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 area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Road

Black Butte Road is located out in Gold Butte National Monument northeast of Lake Mead, about 1.75 hours northeast of Las Vegas.

From Las Vegas, drive out to Gold Butte National Monument. Drive south on the paved Gold Butte Road for 19.7 miles to the unmarked intersection with Black Butte Road, on the right.

Alternatively, from Whitney Pocket, drive north on the paved Gold Butte Road for 1.5 miles to just past the last big sandstone crag on the left. An unmarked dirt road leaves the pavement to the left: this is Black Butte Road.

The Road

From the pavement (Table 1, Site 1004), Black Butte Road angles away from the pavement and passes along the north side of a large sandstone crag with a number of informal campsites around the base. A spur road (Site 1662) to the left leads to campsites on the backside of the crag and loops back out to Gold Butte Road.

Farther along Black Butte Road, two more side roads branch off to the left, but both obviously are not the main road. These roads lead back to Gold Butte Road and Whitney Pocket, but they are not better than Black Butte Road and are not a shortcut to either place.

This first mile of Black Butte Road is the roughest section until the end of the road. The bumpy road runs straight southwest across the open valley, crosses a wash that frequently washes out, and eventually bends sharply more to the west. Beyond the curve, the road becomes much smoother.

At 1.2 miles from the pavement, the road forks equally (Site 1005). Black Butte Road stays left, while Falling Man Bypass Road forks right. The two roads rejoin about 1.1 mile ahead, but the left (south) fork leads to the Falling Man petroglyph site and is the much better road. The right road, Falling Man Bypass Road, seems long, slow, and bumpy. Other than for something different, there is no real reason to use this alternate road.

Staying left at the fork, the road continues with some rocky sections, but generally is a good road. There is one blind curve where sometimes folks on ATVs drive too fast, although none have hit me head-on yet.

At 1.9 miles out, the road arrives at a wooden-fence corral that delineates trailhead parking for the Falling Man Petroglyph Site (Site 1006). The walk is short and the area is interesting, so be sure to stop and take the walk into the sandstone crags.

Black Butte Road continues southwest, passing out the other side of the trailhead parking corral. The road generally is less well maintained after the trailhead. At 2.4 miles out, Falling Man Bypass Road rejoins from the right, and Black Butte Road continues southwest.

At about 2.7 miles out, the road crosses a wash, and shortly post-and-cable fencing appears along the left side of the road. The fencing is intended to keep vehicles off the gypsum-rich soils that serve as rare habitat for the protected Las Vegas Bearpoppy.

The fencing blocks a closed road across the Bearpoppy habitat to the Twenty-one Goats petroglyph site. Unfortunately, some people illegally drive around the end of the fence onto the closed road. For people wanting to see 21 Goats, continue southwest on the main road. The road turns a sharp corner and drops into a broad wash (Site 1664; 3.2 miles out). In the wash, Twenty-one Goats Road branches left and runs up the wash for 0.4 miles to 21 Goats Trailhead. From there, it is a short walk to 21 Goats and to Black Butte Dam.

From Twenty-one Goats Road, Black Butte Road crosses the wash and climbs steeply over the ridge directly ahead. The road runs up a steep, fairly narrow gully where 4WD often is useful. The road winds through interesting mud hills, then drops into the broad and sandy Sand Wash (Site 1666; 3.5 miles out).

Here, Black Butte Road continues straight across, Black Butte Peak Trailhead is the wash on the upstream side, and Sand Wash Road goes down the wash. Sand Wash Road can be used to connect with Fisherman Cove Road to the north to make a loop back to Whitney Pocket using the paved Gold Butte Road, or connect with Mud Wash Road to the south to make a loop back to Whitney Pocket using the unpaved Gold Butte Road.

Continuing, Black Butte Road runs southeast running above Sand Wash to another post-and-cable fence that delineates the Sand Wash Trailhead (Site 1667; 3.8 miles out). The Sand Wash area is a great place to hike around the colorful sandstone crags below Bitter Ridge.

From there, the road deteriorates considerably as it climbs, steeply at times, up onto the flanks of Bitter Ridge. At about 4.5 miles out, a wide spot on the right serves at the Bitter Ridge Peak Trailhead (Site 1668).

Beyond the trailhead, the road runs over a side-ridge and starts steeply down into the canyon below. The road drops steeply through an S-curve, then drops into the wash at the bottom. Heading upstream in the wash, at about 4.9 miles out, the now difficult road steeply exits the wash to climb onto a ridgeline (Site 1669; 5.3 miles out) with a grand view of the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. This last part of the road is most suitable for ATV-type vehicles.

The road dead-end at the overlook, so when ready, turn around and make another adventure on the way out.