Ivanpah Dry Lake

Ivanpah Dry Lake is one of those interesting playas in Nevada that are great for recreation. There are two parts to Ivanpah – the east side that you get to going south from the lotto store in California which is just south of the Primm Outlet Malls. There is a sign that you’re entering the area that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The other part of the playa is on the westside. You enter this area by driving behind Whiskey Pete’s.
Both sides are open to non-​motorized activities. I went here in September 2010 with a land sailing business. It was great fun. The business shown in my photo no longer operates on the Ivanpah Dry Lake.
This is a place to go for a long hike and enjoy the hard packed dirt under foot. If you’re hiking a long distance, it’s best to have a GPS unit with you because some people may lose their sense of direction and go the wrong way. It’s easy to get a good distance away from the parking area and not know where you’re going. Try to keep the freeway in sight and know which way is north. Then, enjoy!
A word of caution – stay off the playa after a rain. Boot tracks and vehicles at the entrance or land sailing craft will leave ruts that dry and will be there for years.

When I stepped out of the Primm Valley Lottery Store this past Saturday, I did not win a couple of grand in cash. I won a grand hiking adventure on the adjacent Ivanhoe Dry Lake.
I originally planned to re-​hike Ivanhoe Dry Lake in February. I had a concern about the sign stating that a permit is needed to access the dry lake. After a BLM agent left me a voice mail informing me that hikers do not need a permit to access the lake, it was under my radar for a hiking adventure on the Ivanhoe Dry Lake.
Ivanhoe Lake is a fairly large dry lake that is also known as a playa. What had been a body of water approximately 8,000 years ago is a large dry lake with a maximum length of 12 miles and a maximum width of 3.1 miles. It parallels Interstate 15, from Neptune Road in California to Primm Valley Resort in Nevada. Interstate 15 separates the west and east sides of Ivanhoe Dry Lake. The trailhead for the west side of the dry lake is immediately south of Whiskey Pete’s. The trailhead for the east side of the dry lake is immediately south of Primm Valley Resorts in back of the Primm Valley Lotto Store. This is the ultimate state-​hop hike because as soon as you enter from the Nevada side, you are hiking in California. Because I am a fan of state hopping, I appreciate this aspect of the hike.
Before I go on to describe the hike, I must say that I would have had a better time sharing this grand prize hiking adventure with my hiking buddy Christie. O who shares the same enthusiasm of nature and the outdoors that I have. So, I had to settle for listening to MP3 oldies files. My philosophy about hiking is that if you cannot share the adventure with a hiking buddy I strongly recommend a great soundtrack. It was a soundtrack that included «Jimmy Mack,» «Two out of Three Ain’t Bad» and «Right Back from Where We Started From» that provided the background to this hiking adventure.
The dry lake starts in back of the Primm Valley Lottery Store. As soon as I stepped foot on a surface of stratified clay, silt, and sand; I was standing on football fields of open space. Throughout the hike, Interstate 15 would be to the west and the Union Pacific Railroad and McCullough Mountain Range would be to the east. With the exception of the two sets of power lines near the Nevada border, there were literally no landmarks on the dry lake. There would be zero elevation gain. What makes this hike moderate is that it is so easy to cover a long distance one way and have to walk that distance back. The New York Mountains of the Mojave National Preserve look close when they are really over ten miles into California. There is a false horizon of water that draws the hiker to walk miles further to realize that it is nature performing an illusion. There is constant exposure to the sun, which is especially strong in the summer. Shade and benches are nonexistent. I would stop to take intermittent sunscreen application with water breaks. The wide empty spaces of the lake could easily cause dizziness and other conditions for people hiking on a dry lake bed in the sun.
The theme of this hike is the wide open spaces of the dry lake. It was enjoyable envisioning all the buildings and events that Ivanhoe Dry Lake could accommodate. It would be the perfect spot for a Las Vegas baseball team that would not have to deal with gambling regulations because it would be in California. It would be the perfect spot for the Las Vegas version of Woodstock. As I hiked on the Ivanhoe Dry Lake, I was away from stress even though Interstate 15 was close by. With my mind free of stress and negativity, I was able to be creative.
Ivanhoe Dry Lake is famous for land sailing. Both times that I have been on the dry lake, I have slowed down to watch land sailing. It was here on March 26, 2009 that the Greenberg achieved the speed record for wind-​powered vehicles at 126 m.p.h.
Time flies by when hiking on a dry lake. A few miles into California, I stopped when I saw life in the form of bushes. I had been hiking about 2:30. I took a sunscreen lotion application with water break and hiked back.
From 4:15 to 6:38 P.M., I hiked back. On the hike back, I walked along the dry shore line to avoid possible dizziness and what would be monotonous scenery. I was now looking at the McCullough Mountains. I would see wildlife in the form of lizards and birds. The most strenuous thing about hiking back is looking at a skyline of fast food eateries ahead. The reality is that they are miles further than they appear.
I would branch off onto an alternative path. The neat thing is when it travels along the border where a barb wire fence in the sand separates California from Nevada.
After hiking 5 hours, my grand prize had expended me out. The neat thing about this hike is that the trailhead is near restaurants and bars. After re-​hydrating with a couple of Blue Hawaiins, I would soon be enjoying my next adventure on the Desperado Roller Coaster.
The Daniel. S Unilocal 100 Challenge. Review 81.