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Rocky Gap Road
From Dirtopia, The Off-Road Encyclopedia
Rocky Gap Road (aka Potato Road) Rocky Gap Road conects Lovel Canyon road on the west side of the Spring Mountains to the Red Rock Scenic Loop on the east. High clearance 4x4 recomended. The west side of the pass holds the most difficult terrain while the east side holds great views and a winding trail. Watch for hikers. Map of the Red Rock NCA. http://www.nv.blm.gov/redrockcanyon/PDF/hikemap.pdf
Rocky Gap Report- East to West 5/19/07
You should consider this trail as two sections. The east side is the easy side, the west is the advanced side. The middle point of the trail is the highest point with a couple marked hiking trails (I forget the names) and an area to park. Traveling west from Red Rock, as you go up the trail it’s fairy easy most of the way. There are a couple rugged spots about 2/3 of the way up, not too tough, but be careful - one of these had a Honda Passport high-centered that I helped pull out. There are a few scenic spots for leg-stretching and picnicking along the way. You'll know you are mid-way and at the top when you see a large parking area and marked trails on the south side of the road. Make your decision to go to the west half of the trail here. I definitely recommend high clearance and a good spotter for the west half. From the middle point, the road drops steeply downhill. At the bottom of this first downhill slope is the worst part of the whole trail, a very rugged wash with some nice mixed boulders, soft gravel, and some narrow spots. It was scary, but I made it through the worst with my stock Wrangler Rubicon and a spotter. I got high-centered once when my spotter wasn't looking and my left side sunk into the soft gravel. We had to jack up my front axle and stick some rocks under the tires to get out. Just west of the this big wash are a couple steep side-angle spots where the road winds in and out of the creek-bed so be careful not to tip :) Once you get past the big wash and the steep side angles, it’s pretty easy the rest of the way down.
UPDATE 5/11/08 The rock garden portion discibed above is washed out even more so now. Stock vehicles other than a Rubicon or simalar are not advised. There are more boulders and off camber erroded ledges. Jeeps will fitt pretty easily still but full size riggs should have 35's or larger and rock sliders to avoid body damage. A skilled spotter is a must. Long quad cab/long bed trucks will be tight. My 79 Ramcharger with 33's barely made it through. It was very slow going to avoid body damage. A late 90's Toyota Land Cruiser with sliders, 37's and lockers came through right behind me. His length caused him to reposition himself several times to get through. There are 2-3 wash areas after that make a nice challenge as well for those with the more serious rigs. One more note, this is a high risk flood area. Storms can move in with little warning, so check the weather outlook before hitting this trail.
