Well maintained road connecting Golconda, Nevada with NV-226 near Tuscarora. The Midas Road passes by several mines, the community of Midas, and Willow Creek reservoir.
Directions
From NV-226, turn east at the junction to Tuscarora.
Tuscarora Junction
From I-80, take the Golconda/Midas (Exit 194) exit and follow NV-789 north towards Midas.
Golconda Exit
Map
Description
The route begins on NV-789 north in Golconda. The highway parallels I-80 briefly, before turning north and entering Emigrant Canyon along the Humboldt River. After a few miles following along the river, the canyon opens up onto Red House Flat. NV-789 and the pavement ends 16 miles from Golconda. Turn right on the well maintained gravel road towards Midas.
Humboldt River Looking West
The road to Midas is a good gravel road that is suitable for passenger car traffic. There are many mining trucks along this road, as well as buses carrying miners near change of shift. The road follows the north end of Red House Flat, with Snowstorm Mountains and the Owyhee Bluffs to the north side of the road. After the turn off to the town of Midas, the road continues east for about 10 miles to the turnoff for the last major mine on the route. Beyond that the road quality goes from a 45 MPH gravel road to around a 35 MPH gravel road.
Sunset
The road then leaves the plain and follows Willow Creek into a canyon before cresting a hill at Willow Creek Reservoir. When I drove by the reservoir in the late afternoon on a Friday in fall, there were a few RVs camped along the shoreline.
Below Willow Creek Reservoir
Willow Creek Reservoir
The road past the reservoir follows Willow Creek or its tributaries before crossing a low pass through the Independence Range. Signs of civilization start to reappear as the road passes by ranches and the turn off to the ghost town of Tuscarora. The Midas Road ends at NV-226 just east of Tuscarora.
Midas Road Scene
Midas Road Scene