State Route 164 (SR 164) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in southern Clark County,

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 ...

. The route, along with the unnumbered Nipton Road located in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, connects

U.S. Route 95 US Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highways, US Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland from the Pacific Coast ...

(US 95) in Nevada to

Interstate 15 in California Route 15, consisting of the contiguous segments of State Route 15 (SR 15) and Interstate 15 (I-15), is a major north–south state highway and Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of California California is a U.S. s ...

just south of Primm, via the small town of

Nipton, California Nipton is an unincorporated community in the Ivanpah Valley in San Bernardino County, California. With a population of about 15 – 20, it is located on the northeastern border of Mojave National Preserve, approximately southeast of Primm, Nev ...

. The highway is also known as Joshua Tree Highway.

Route description

The route begins at the California-Nevada state line about east of Nipton. The highway treks east from there, curving slightly northeast to pass by the

McCullough Range The mountains in the McCullough Range lie mostly above the city of Henderson in the U.S. state of Nevada. The range has two distinct areas with the northern portion being primarily volcanic in origin, while the southern part of the range is prima ...

. At the northern tip of the mountains surrounding Crescent Peak, the highway turns slightly more southeast and decreases in elevation as it heads towards

Searchlight, Nevada Searchlight is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census i ...

. SR 164 reaches its eastern terminus at the junction with US 95 in the center of Searchlight; however, the roadway continues east as Cottonwood Cove Road, entering the

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Gran ...

and ending near Cottonwood Cove. In 2003, a sign near Searchlight designated the route as the ''Joshua Tree Highway'', due to the abundance of

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 located along the roadway.

History

The highway connecting Searchlight to Nipton first appears on maps as a county road in 1933. By 1940, the unimproved road was designated State Route 68. The road had been graded by 1950 and was finally paved by 1963. In 1976, the

Nevada Department of Transportation The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways within ...

began a project to renumber the state highway system. During this process, the road was reassigned to State Route 164; this change was first seen on official state highway maps in 1978. The route has been largely unchanged since.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist

164 Year 164 ( CLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus (or, less frequently, year 917 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Transportation in Clark County, Nevada

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References