Nevada State Route 431; the Mount Rose Highway

Back in 2016 I had a chance to drive Nevada State Route 431 from NV 28 at Lake Tahoe northeast to US 395A/NV 341 south of Reno.

NV 431 is a 24.4 mile State Highway and as the sign above states is reputed to be the highest all-year pass in the Sierra Nevada Range at 8,911 feet above sea level. The Mount Rose Highway has been a Signed State Highway for a long time first appearing on the Nevada State Highway Map in 1932 as NV 27.

1932 Nevada State Highway Map

Unlike nearby NV 28 the numbering of NV 27 was reassigned to NV 431 in 1976 during the Nevada State Highway renumbering. The new designation of NV 431 appears alongside NV 27 on the Mount Rose Highway on the 1978 Nevada State Highway Map.

1978 Nevada State Highway Map

NV 431 starts eastward from NV 28 on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe in Incline Village at approximately 6,350 feet above sea level.

From Incline Village NV 431 begins to ascend quickly and has a massive vista of Lake Tahoe at the first major hairpin.

NV 431 quickly rises to the 8,911 feet Mount Rose Summit.

Truckee Meadows can be seen ahead from Mount Rose northeast on NV 431.

From Mount Rose NV 431 begins to descend rapidly crossing through the Mount Rose Ski Area. NV431 has a minor unsigned junction at NV 878/Slide Mountain Ski Bowl Highway.

The rapid descent of NV 431 to Truckee Meadows continues through a large number of wide switchbacks before straightening out on a steep descent.

NV 431 has a junction with US 395/I-580 before terminating at the junction of NV 341/US 395A.

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process. The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents. Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes. When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood. The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71. The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway. Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog