Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2000: Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping Trip #2 / Day 6: Nipton to Keystone Canyon area via Walking Box Ranch Road 16
It's a cool day that gets much chillier as I climb up toward Keystone Canyon in the New York Mountains from Nipton. I don't see any other people after leaving the highway.
By the time I reach Keystone Canyon Road at the end of the day, a few snowflakes are floating around in a light drizzle. I can see that it's cloudy and snowing a little higher up the mountains, just up the road.
Instead of continuing on further up Keystone Canyon proper, I set up camp just off the adjacent road to the old Trio Mine.
42.2 miles, 4:35 hours, 23.8 mph max speed, 9.2 mph average. From Nipton at 3000 feet, I rise to 4900 feet near Crescent Peak on Nevada Highway 164, drop down to 3900 feet at the start of Walking Box Ranch Road, then rise slowly up to my campsite for the night at Trio Mine Road in Mojave National Preserve at 5000 feet.
I leave Nipton and start the 12-mile crawl Nipton Road hill toward the Nevada border and Crescent Peak beyond
Looking back down at Nipton as I climb slowly
Welcome to Nevada!
Nipton Road, now Nevada Highway 164, rises through a pass between the New York Mountains and the McCullough Mountains
Walking Box Ranch Road turns out to be easy to locate on Nevada Highway 164
Views of the New York Mountains (today's destination) while heading west on Walking Box Ranch Road
Walking Box Ranch Road passes fairly close to the Castle Peaks, which are visible from Nipton down below on the other side
There are a few sharp turns on Walking Box Ranch Road
Taking a Joshua-tree break on Walking Box Ranch Road
After that previous sharp curve on Walking Box Ranch Road, it looks like there might be another one ahead
Ominous dark clouds overhead!
Pinkish gravel on Hart Mine Road; the New York Mountains are not too far away now
New York Mountains not too far off in the distance; looks a bit snowy over there...
Passing by the three-house settlement of Barnwell
Approaching the base of the New York Mountains, I ride a mile on Ivanpah Road, looking for the road to Keystone Canyon
At the bottom of the remote, cold and eerie Keystone Canyon Road, I look for a spot to pitch my tent