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1952 Map of Papoose Lake

Name: 1952 Topographic Map of Papoose Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1965
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1965

About this map

Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range dominates this mid-century landscape, illustrating the intense military footprint in southern Nevada during the early Cold War. The map, based on 1952 aerial photography, captures a transitional desert wilderness where traditional land uses like the Kelly Mine exist alongside the expanding Nevada Proving Grounds. The terrain is characterized by stark basins and ridges, including the Half Pint Range and the Papoose Range, which flank the dry bed of Papoose Lake.

A network of unimproved dirt roads and trails, such as those through Groom Pass, provides the only access across the Emigrant Valley. Distinctive geological features like Cockeyed Ridge, Twinridge Hill, and the dramatic Scarp Canyon underscore the isolation of the Desert Game Range. This survey offers a rare look at the basin-and-range topography before decades of restricted access altered the public's relationship with this portion of the Nye and Lincoln County border.