Overview

Walking Box Ranch Road is a graded dirt road that runs southwest from Highway 164, passes the historical Walking Box Ranch, and continues down into California where it ends at Castle Mountain Gold Mine, an active mine operated by Equinox Gold. The road traverses grand, open scenery and desert grasslands as it runs across Avi Kwa Ami National Monument into California and Castle Mountains National Monument.

At about 0.8 miles out, Walking Box Ranch Road passes Walking Box Ranch, on the left. Walking Box Ranch is an historical home and cattle operation site managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with help from Friends of Avi Kwa Ame. The site is available for researchers and occasional tours, but otherwise it is closed to the public. The area is watched by several law enforcement officers who live on-site in travel trailers.

Farther out, several little-used dirt roads make nice walking trails.

Link to road map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about driving in the desert, ... Walking Box Ranch Road is graded and easy to drive, but storms can damage the road where it crosses sandy washes. The road normally is passable in 2WD vehicles.

While out, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this road runs into remote areas, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Walking Box Ranch Road runs straight and wide for long distances, inviting exhibitions of speed. Keep in mind, however, that there are a fair number of Desert Tortoises in the area, and squished turtles aren't pretty.

Getting to the Roadhead

Walking Box Ranch Road is located in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, about 1 hour south of Las Vegas.

From Las Vegas, drive south on Highway 95 (US-95 S/I-515 S) to Searchlight. From downtown Searchlight (intersection of Highway 95 and Highway 164), turn right and drive west for 7.0 miles to Walking Box Ranch Road, on the left. Highway signs announce arrival at the intersection, and a large BLM sign sits across the intersection. After passing a large Joshua Tree on the left, a stop sign and street sign become visible too.

The Road

From Highway 164 (Table 1, Site 1992), Walking Box Ranch Road heads south-southwest into the desert, which is thick with Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca, Creosote Bush, and lots of other shrubs and annual plants.

At about 0.23 miles out, the road passes a cattle guard, and the adventure really begins.

Walking Box Ranch Road runs straight, then at about 0.73 miles out, bends a bit right and passes a spur road on the left. This is the service entrance to Walking Box Ranch. Just past this road, a BLM sign announces Walking Box Ranch.

At about 0.77 miles out, as Walking Box Ranch Road bends a bit more to the right, it encounters another spur road (Site 1993) to the left. This second road is the public entrance road to Walking Box Ranch.

Walking Box Ranch is an historical ranch site managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with help from Friends of Avi Kwa Ame. The site is open to occasional public tours, but otherwise it is closed to the public.

Beyond the public entrance road, Walking Box Ranch Road quickly passes a third spur into the ranch area, then begins curving back to the left. The road runs straight (due south) for a short distance, then curves back to the right to resume the exact same line the road was following before it curved out and around the ranch. At this curve (about 1.12 miles out), the road passes the last spur road back into the ranch area.

Now heading south-southwest again, Walking Box Ranch runs more-or-less straight until about 5.05 miles out. At this point, the road bends a bit left to dip through a deep wash. Climbing out the other side, Walking Box Ranch resumes following the original line.

At about 7.4 miles out, Walking Box Ranch Road bends right and shortly makes a sweeping curve left, passing an old corral complex on the right, to head southeast towards the mountains ahead. At about 8.5 miles out, the road begins to make curve right, and Walking Box Ranch Road runs southwest up to the California-Nevada state line.

Crossing into California, Walking Box Ranch Road enters Castle Mountains National Monument and also crosses into the 2023 York Fire burn zone. The fire burned some 93,000 acres, and in this area, fire crews held the line along Walking Box Ranch Road.

Walking Box Ranch Road continues running southwest for a bit, but then curves to wind more-or-less due south through Castle Mountains National Monument until reaching the gates of Castle Mountain Gold Mine, which is private property. The original mine was called Hart Mine after Hart Mountain, and Hart Mountain Road runs northwest from near the end of Walking Box Ranch Road, but bridges along Hart Mountain Road were damaged in the 2023 York Fire, and the road remains closed pending repairs.

For most drivers, Walking Box Ranch Road is an in-and-out drive.