Amargosa River Flooding in 2001 Back to Amargosa Main Page
When purchased by Marta
Beckett in 1961, the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley
Junction showed water stains three feet high on
the walls.
Flooded open land in Death Valley Junction
When rains hit the Yucca Mountain area on July 5th and 6th, 2001, within hours the river surfaced and crested across the road in Shoshone and then Tecopa, 40 and 50 miles south of Yucca Mountain. The wave was 3-4 feet above the road, and left behind lakes 100 feet wide.
These photos
were taken three days later, and all show heavy flooding and
water flow still in normally dry, barren areas, from Death Valley Junction
south to Shoshone CA.
Click on photos for enlarged version.
Except in times of flood, the river flows deep underground.
Looking south from western side of Route 127, just north of Shoshone CA.
Eastern side of Route 127. Note the two cinder cones on the western slope below the Resting Springs Mountains.