2011 Map of Fourmile Flat

About this map

Salt Wells Marsh and the expansive alkaline expanse of Fourmile Flat dominate this 2011 survey of the Churchill County desert. The landscape is defined by the shifting geography of the Sand Mountain dunes and the surrounding Salt Wells Basin. Human infrastructure in this arid environment is largely dictated by water and recreation, centered on the Sand Mountain Rec Area and sparse livestock improvements such as the Tunnel Spring Windmill and Sand Mountain Windmill. Highway 50 cuts a direct path across the northern reaches of the flat, following a corridor once vital to early transcontinental travel. Rare water sources like Tunnel Spring and Sand Springs provide the only breaks in the dry terrain, while Salt Creek drains toward the basin floor, illustrating the complex internal drainage of the Nevada Great Basin.