CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons

Rocky

New member
Not sure what you mean by almost at the base of the hill. If you go to the second trail access where the houses are you’ll save some distance hiking.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Concrete Arrow Quest : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 4

Over the weekend, Cindy and I headed back out to the Northern Nevada desert to continue our search of these historic Transcontinental Airway Beacons. However, unlike most of the ones you'd find out here that have concrete arrows pointing east to west, I recently discovered there were a handful that actually pointed west to east and these are what we were in search of. And, as luck would have it, we did in fact find four of them and for the most part, in amazing condition. Below are a few shots of what they look like today, I hope you enjoy.

Heading east across Nevada, there is a point where the Transcontinental Airway Beacons split off from original route and heads north with arrows pointing to the east. Here is an aerial shot of what the first one we found looks like...
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This is what the arrow looked like from the ground. By far, one of the best arrows we have found to date...
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The second beacon we found was a bit harder to find but, if you look real close, you can just make out the back half of the arrow and foundation for the generator shed...
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On the ground, this is what we found...
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Standing in the middle of the arrow looking east toward the point of it or, what little remains of it...
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Beacon number three for the day was a lot easier to find as you can see in this aerial photo...
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While it was in great condition, a barbed wire fence made it difficult to access. Still here are a few shots of what it looks like...
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The rest of our trip was spent pre-running lengths of our upcoming California Trail run but, on our way back, we made a stop over at one more arrow that was a bit easier to get to heading west. Here is a shot of what it looks like from above...
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And here's what it looked like from the ground. Take note of the course correction in this arrow...
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I hope you all enjoyed our trip exploring more of the wonderful things you can still find out in the Northern Nevada desert. These old Transcontinental Airway beacons are a real joy to find and fun to imagine a time when they were the only way to fly across the country. If you ever get a chance to visit any of these sites, please leave it as you've found it so that others can enjoy it as well. Until next time :cool:
 

jhires

Member
My wife and I found the beacon foundation north east of Ellensburg, Wa. Will post up some pics soon. No arrow, just tower and generator foundation, but it was fun to go find it and know what it was
 

rubic0n

New member
Very cool thread! I remember seeing some of these in southern Wyoming when I was a kid. I had no idea what they were for.
 

dannymalkin

New member
I love the exploring part of jeeping the best. Thanks for telling us, I have never seen or heard about this before!
 

droflakcin

New member
Very interesting ! I love learning the history of out great country. Thanks for giving us some great knowledge.
 

Gadget

Caught the Bug
This kind of stuff is exactly what attracted me to jeeps, exploring, discovering or rediscovering. Being a pilot for a living I had heard of these but didn't think they were still around. Makes you wonder what else is out there waiting to be found.. Thanks Eddie
 

Rocfrog

New member
I found out about these about a year or so ago. I really want to try and find a bunch of them, I have told the wife it would be cool to make it to all of them but I'll settle for most of them.

Thank you for sharing your adventure!

Nick
 

hbkid22

Member
They are pretty cool. I never knew about them until I saw this trip so I decided to find some nearby me....

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NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
Slightly off topic, but it's really sad that with the exception of the ghost trains in Maine, there is not a single interesting thing in the entire north east, wheeling wise. :(
 
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