Off Roading in a Ford Escape

We are frugal when we travel. I will be the first one to admit it. We tend to avoid spending money when we don't have to and will skip certain tourist attractions because we refused to pay the outlandish admission price. So when I found an alternative route to the see the Hoover Dam without having to pay parking on the Nevada side or be subject to a vehicle inspection I was stoked.

However, I may wanted to look into it a bit more. I knew we needed to park at the Kingman-Wash Parking Lot on the Arizona Side. From Googlemaps, I saw that there was an exit that took us to the parking lot without crossing the dam. Heck they even suggested a route. What they didn't tell it was the road was closed.

We got off the highway and took the exit I assumed we needed. Very shortly the pavement ended and we were on a dirt road. I was pretty sure this was not the right way but the hubby was like "We will be fine. It's nothing like the Apache Trail." Oookaayy... He also figured we had some time to find out where the road took us.

Yes, it wasn't like the Apache Trail which is actually kind of maintained even if it was 22 miles of dirt roads. This was a not maintained and full of pot holes. The good news according to google maps it was only a couple of miles long and then we would have to turn around (WHAT?!?!).

This road did not take us to a parking lot. After a windy, bumpy ride that included going down a semi-steep pot hole ridden hill, we ended up in a parking lot for an inlet of Lake Mead and a camping area.

It was actually very pretty. However, we didn't stick around long (especially since we didn't have pay any kind of entrance fee) and headed back out and back to civilization.

The ride back wasn't too bad unless you count going back up the hill.  The hill probably had about 30-45 degree slope and was dirt. After several attempts and only making it about a quarter of the way up, the hubby re-evaluated the situation. Deciding the rock on the right side was blocking our path, I climbed out and moved the rock. After getting a good enough "running" start, the hubby gunned it and we made it up the hill. It was definitely dicey on those initial attempts. We didn't get stuck, didn't flip the vehicle, and didn't need a tow. I call that success. I probably should have taken pictures of the hill but I was too busy worrying that we weren't going to make it.

Lesson learned.. double check that all roads are open. Check out the dirt roads and where they lead prior to leaving home. It was an adventure and made a good story when we got to our friends' house later.