Amargosa 1346a

Beatty is at the north end of the Amargosa valley. The Amargosa river originates north of Beatty, runs through the valley down to just south of Tecopa, California, and then makes a u-turn into Death Valley where it ends in the salt flats near the Badwater part of Death Valley. The river is largely dry except in rainy seasons, though there is a flowing section from just north of Shoshone, California to south of Tecopa. An important thing to know about the Amargosa is that there are apparently efforts by Las Vegas to buy the water rites for the region, which could be very harmful for the wildlife that are dependent on it.

Going south from Beatty, the main highway goes to Pahrump (pictures nearby), but an interesting diversion is to Amargosa -- particularly if you're headed to Death Valley. The area around Amargosa is a fairly active farming area.

As you get near the farming area, there is a very large sand dune.