Amargosa Valley (formerly Lathrop Wells) is an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located on U.S. Route 95 in

Nye County Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, behi ...

, in the U.S. state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Description

The community is named after the

Amargosa River The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, int ...

which flows through the valley from its origination in

to its terminus in

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in Nort ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Like most

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

rivers, the long Amargosa flows on the surface only when rare rainfalls flood the desert washes, except for a segment near Shoshone, California, where the river flows perennially. The name

Amargosa Valley The Amargosa Valley is the valley through which the Amargosa River flows south, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada and Inyo County in the state of California. The south end is alternately called the "Amargosa River Valley'" or the "Tecopa Valley ...

is used locally with reference to the actual geographic valley, although for the most part, it is coincident with the

Amargosa Desert The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California– Nevada border, comprising the northeastern portion of the geographic Amargosa Valley, north of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. ...

and is noted as such on many maps. The populated area of the Amargosa Valley is sandwiched between US 95 to the north and the California border to the south. Some of the residential streets in the community cross over into California. Much of the Nevada-California border in this area is contiguous with the boundaries of

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eurek ...

. The national park boundary extends into

near Beatty, approximately northwest of Amargosa Valley. Amargosa Valley is located approximately northwest of Las Vegas, northwest of Pahrump, and north of

Death Valley Junction, California Death Valley Junction, more commonly known as Amargosa ( Spanish for "Bitter"), is a tiny Mojave Desert unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, in the Amargosa Valley and just east of Deat ...

History

The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ran through the valley from 1906 to 1940, for borax mining operations. Modern development did not begin until the early 1950s. Electric power, other than that produced by private generators, was not available until 1963. Until the early 1990s growth in Amargosa Valley was minimal. More recently, intense growth in Las Vegas has led many new residents to settle in Amargosa Valley and nearby Pahrump.

Geography

Amargosa Valley is located at 36.58001 North, 116.44487 West at an elevation of 2,640 feet (805 m) above sea level. The landscape is typical of lower to moderate elevations in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

, with flat expanses of sandy soil punctuated by rocky mounds and hills. Predominant indigenous vegetation is White Bursage and

Creosote Bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

, with some

Joshua Tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

s and

Cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

at higher elevations. Numerous non-native plant species have also been introduced.

Demographics

Recreation

Alien Cathouse is one of Nevada's legal brothels. It is located near the corner of U.S. 95 and SR 373.

Longstreet Hotel, Casino, and RV Resort Longstreet Inn, Casino and RV Resort is located on State Route 373, in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, seven miles north of Death Valley Junction. The resort has a nine-hole golf course, 60 rooms, an RV park with 50 spaces, as well as a casino A ca ...

is a full-service hotel and casino with restaurants and a RV park. The hotel is located on SR 373, near the Nevada–California border. The hotel is popular with visitors to nearby

. Big Dunes, popular for weekenders from all over Southern Nevada, is located on the north side of Amargosa Valley. Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge is located in the southern end of Amargosa Valley.

References

External links

Amargosa Valley Home Page
– privately operated commercial site; not maintained by a government entity
Amargosa Valley Library
{{Authority control 1905 establishments in Nevada Amargosa Desert Populated places established in 1905 Populated places in the Mojave Desert Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Unincorporated communities in Nye County, Nevada Unincorporated towns in Nevada