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"Everywhere but the Strip"
Sloan Antenna Ride

Antenna Ride?

    The premise: on a clear day, from most points in Las Vegas one can spot the various mountaintop towers that provide cellular and other wireless coverage to the city. That's why we refer to the "Vegas Valley", the whole thing is surrounded by mountains.

    Each antenna is home to generators, power transformers, little electronics huts, and whatever else it takes to light up a modern antenna. More importantly, each tower has an access road that was created to get all that crap up the mountain. The access roads are still used occasionally, though little maintenance is done since there is no longer a need for monster haulers to get up the incline.

    For the dualsport rider, an "Antenna Ride" is an excuse for a 2-6 hr. trip. It's a chance to explore the periphery of Vegas and some cool stuff that's hidden in the high desert. The roads are rarely challenging, but there are almost always a bunch of dirt trails nearby that are far more technical, if that's your desire.


STREET DIRECTIONS:

Go south on Las Vegas Blvd, way past the casinos. At about 10 miles south of Mandalay Bay, you'll cross St. Rose Parkway-- keep going. Another 3 miles of so and you'll see on ramps for the I-15 and a sign pointing to Sloan. Make a right and go under the expressway. Now you're in Sloan, population 99 as of 2003. Less than a mile up you'll see a double row of manufactured homes; go right onto their street and continue after the pavement ends.

Antenna Access:
Sloan Antenna Access Ride

Heading North-ish on the dirt, you'll see the antenna ahead and to the right. The road to reach it is hidden until you get up there. A series of old tires seem to mark a former berm for a dirt oval, though I see no fresh tracks each time I pass through.

Train tracks on the left seem to be trafficked every ten minutes or so during the day. Sometimes the trains blast their horns, I guess because of my presence, but I couldn't tell if it was salutory or scolding. I greeted one with a display of the maximum air I could pull on my weighty bike (not much), and was rewarded with a series of honks. I toyed with the idea of mooning the next one (an Amtrak) but decided that some tourist with a camera might well immortalize the foul deed.

Road up to the Tower Other Trails First White x Start of the climb South to Sloan Antenna ahead
The road up to the tower appears suddenly. I passed it completely before spotting it. The way it is cut into the mountain makes it look like a dead-ender, or a former mine road.
  Road up to the Tower
 
Other Trails First White x Start of the climb South to Sloan Antenna ahead Top of the Ridge
Other Trails A few hundred yards up the road, the other trails in the area are apparent. A lot of the paths right next to the train track have serious potential for test pilots or 250 riders, with graduated inclines approaching 45 degrees.
First White x Start of the climb South to Sloan Antenna ahead Top of the Ridge X 2
 
First of the magical white X's. These appear at odd places all over the area. First White x
 
Start of the climb South to Sloan Antenna ahead Top of the Ridge X 2 Dam X
Start of the climb The start of the real climb to the tower; this part is a simple ride but it gets better...
South to Sloan Antenna ahead Top of the Ridge X 2 Dam X At the antenna
 
...looking South at Sloan... South to Sloan
 
Antenna ahead Top of the Ridge X 2 Dam X At the antenna St. Rose & I-15
Antenna ahead. The road gets a lot more vertical and washed out, though as I stressed over dropping my shiny new bike I failed to capture the fun with the digicam. Antenna ahead
 
Top of the Ridge X 2 Dam X At the antenna St. Rose & I-15 Antenna & hardware
Top of the Ridge On top of the ridge, looking North toward Southern Highlands golf course and the city.
X 2 Dam X At the antenna St. Rose & I-15 Antenna & hardware Railroad tunnel
 
Mysterious white X #2. X 2
 
Dam X At the antenna St. Rose & I-15 Antenna & hardware Railroad tunnel Sloan Antenna Access
Dam X Most of the way up, I can see yet another X across the valley. This one has no access road leading to it, it's in an area with no trails at all. I'm contemplating if I should warn the kind residents of Sloan that a monster dam is being built here. They'll thank me when Sloan is a frequent stop for scuba divers.
At the antenna St. Rose & I-15 Antenna & hardware Railroad tunnel Sloan Antenna Access Road up to the Tower
 
Up at the antenna, looking North, I rode the bike back a bit to get some more pics and then returned to the top on foot. At the antenna
 
St. Rose & I-15 Antenna & hardware Railroad tunnel Sloan Antenna Access Road up to the Tower Other Trails
St. Rose & I-15 St. Rose Pkwy and I-15 from above.
Antenna & hardware Railroad tunnel Sloan Antenna Access Road up to the Tower Other Trails First White x
 
Antenna and attendant hardware. Antenna & hardware
 
Railroad tunnel Sloan Antenna Access Road up to the Tower Other Trails First White x Start of the climb
Railroad tunnel A railroad tunnel that can't be seen from the road in. It looks like the tracks no longer run through it, will update next time I visit.
Sloan Antenna Access Road up to the Tower Other Trails First White x Start of the climb South to Sloan
 
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Wednesday, October 13, 2004 1:32 PM
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