1961 Map of Cane Spring

About this map

Nevada Test Site Area 5 dominates this Cold War era landscape, mapped in cooperation with the Atomic Energy Commission. The survey reveals a high-desert environment where topographic features like Skull Mtn and Mt Salyer define the terrain, while water sources such as Cane Spring and Pavits Spring provided critical focal points in an otherwise arid expanse. The eastern edge is marked by the Mercury Highway and the transition into Frenchman Flat, showing the infrastructure required for remote government operations. Local-history interest is found in the traces of earlier routes, including the Old Indian Springs Road, and isolated industrial markers like Drill Hole 4, which hint at the specialized subterranean investigations conducted within the test range during the mid-20th century.