Jungo Road Report

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:11 am

After reading varying opinions concerning Jungo Road from Winnemucca to the Black Rock Desert, I decided to give it a whirl myself... After working all week (read as 7 days=89 hours) in Jackpot, NV, I needed a change of pace on my way home to Reno...

After taking Exit 178 (eastbound) and stopping at a gas station to get 4 bottles of water, I followed the signs to route 95 and took the Jungo road turn.. heading into oblivion. The observations made here are concerned primarily with the road once it becomes gravel/dirt. The vehicle being driven was a STOCK AWD Chevy cargo van. No fancy tires or suspension. We had a single spare.

Words of advice -
1) have a good map. I found a recreational Atlas at the truckstop in Wells that had a good series of maps that included the ful length of Jungo.
2) follow the obvious road.. there are dozens of offshoots, but the one that looks the most travelled is..
3) DO NOT attempt this route at night.

The report-
We were able to maintain an average speed of between 50 and 60 for a good part of the road... close to 45 miles of it.. then it started to get squirrely... occaissional ruts caused us to adjust speed on several occaissions. In the distance, at times, areas that appeared to be heavily rutted were actually just covered with a black gravel. This was misleading... the gravel is brutal - ruts would have been welcome. The worst part of the road starts when a rock out cropping known as "Pulpit Rock" comes into view. The road becomes intermittent rough and covered with rocks/gravel. Our first impression (for almost 50 miles) was - this is a well maintained road. Once we hit Sulphur, we expected the road to get worse. At first we were pleasantly suprised, but soon, it lived up to its rough reputation. After passing by the first two lake access roads shown on the map, we spotted a very nice access road complete with smooth looking railroad crossing. As we started to make the 27 point U-Turn to go back to the road, we discovered we had a fast leak in the driver's rear-tire. After changing it, we decided to just trudge on Jungo til we hit hardball... we were 11 miles from the end of Jungo when we got the flat.

The Morals of the story-
1) have new tires
2) have a good spare
3) drive it in daylight
4) don't get cocky - even when 11 friggin miles from the hardball
5) expect a flat
6) bring a plug/patch kit to repair your blown tire at BM so you can replace the next one you blow if you are brave enough to leave the same way.

Good Points -
1) Jungo offers views of the back-areas of Nevada that are unsurpassed
2) You may get to see a herd of wild horses or antelope
3) It cuts about 70 miles off the length of the trip (but it makes up for it in abuse to your vehicle)
4) Very little traffic
5) It will give you a good sample of the "unforgiving nature" of a wilderness area.

This report is meant to be informative, but by no means a final word.

This being said - though we were able to pass it with a minimum of trouble - I would not recommend taking Jungo to the average traveller. I am not saying don't take it, but I am also not recommending it. Use this info to help make a decision.

trocar · Post by **trocar** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:20 am

I would not recommend taking Jungo to the average traveller. I am not saying don't take it, but I am also not recommending it.

Ah Nevada…the gambling state.

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:31 am

trocar wrote:
I would not recommend taking Jungo to the average traveller. I am not saying don't take it, but I am also not recommending it.
Ah Nevada…the gambling state.

A flat is a safe bet... lol

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:23 am

A flat is a safe bet... lol

With regular car tires, maybe. It depends on many factors. Only the section from Sulphur to Empire is bad...if you have experience driving rural gravel roads then you shouldn't have too much trouble driving Jungo because you know what to avoid and what is a reasonable and prudent speed.

Having run Jungo to and from the event for 3 years now the biggest problem I had was vibration from the rough road breaking things on the trailer. The vehicles themselves come through with no damage...many manufacturers put their vehicles through worse at the proving grounds and they are designed to flex and hold up under the assault...providing you're not going too fast. But if it's a homebuilt project....if it has any engineering flaws Jungo will help you find them quickly. It shows no mercy. For the first timer reading this coming in from Chicago or somewhere and is thinking about it...DON'T DO IT.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:08 am

Thanks, Icono. Sounds like a nice trip to take even earlier in the summer.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:23 am

And remember you really don't want to cut in your nitrous (NOS) oxide system on Jungo - especially in a mini van.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:58 am

It's a heavily modified Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe wagon, not a mini-van.
As for the NOS, of course I'm going to use it on Jungo. On the section from Sulphur to Winnemucca there's some great stretches to use it.

Edit: I do appreciate your concern for my safety though.

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:09 am

Kinetic IV wrote:It's a heavily modified Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe wagon, not a mini-van.
As for the NOS, of course I'm going to use it on Jungo. On the section from Sulphur to Winnemucca there's some great stretches to use it.

Edit: I do appreciate your concern for my safety though.

I forgot to mention... lots of cows out and about in the first 10 miles...

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:14 am

Mister Jellyfish Mister wrote:Thanks, Icono. Sounds like a nice trip to take even earlier in the summer.

It was nice for a couple of reasons-
1) I wasn't in a hurry.
2) I was in a company vehicle, heh... I know for a fact that the VW Bus wouldn't like it.. at all.. Kinetic is right about the road finding flaws.. I have a feeling that my Bus would probably just disassemble itself..
3) I had a camera and took a few pics. Once I get them developed, I will digitize them and give mile notations.
4) I was able to see part of Nevada that I hadn't seen bfore.
5) It was cool to see the Playa appear from a different angle than the usual.

Now about these disks I have for you....

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:28 am

the_iconoclast wrote:I have a feeling that my Bus would probably just disassemble itself.....

I'm looking for a van that will assemble itself. Preferable out of cardboard and an old bed frame.

As the mrFishist sez: don't hold your breath. It's an ugly way to die.

I will now go sit in the corner of eplaya reserved for people who make jokes in the advise threads.

edited for grammer.